In His Shadow
by Mikila94
Summary: AU Monkey D. Luffy, son of a millionaire, grandson of the principal and a little brother of a famous singer tries to hide his identity from everyone, his friends included. What happens when the new girl, Nami, starts to find out about all this? Will she tell everyone? What kind of affect will she have on Luffy? What does he think of her?
1. Chapter 1

**A.N: Well here´s the LuNa AU story that I promised. This is my first AU so it might be a bit… weird, maybe? But it´s not cliché, at least I don´t think it is.**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece**

**Chapter 1: Everything except one thing**

_Sun was shining brightly above a city called New World. It was a huge city, the capital of a big state called Grand Line. But this isn´t a story about the city, this is a story about a boy who lives there._

"Luffy!" yelled a blond boy in suit, walking towards the lockers where a black haired boy stood. The said black haired boy, Luffy, turned his head towards the voice, closing his locker door.

"What is it, Sanji?" he asked from the blond called Sanji. Sanji opened his bag and took something out of it.

"You forgot your lunch, idiot!" he said, handing the lunch box to Luffy. Their school, Raftell, did have a cafeteria but Luffy and his friends' preferred homemade lunches that were, of course, all made by Sanji.

"Ah, I knew I forgot something! Thanks Sanji!" the young boy yelled, taking the lunch. Sanji sighed.

"No problem Luffy, just don´t forget it aga-"Sanji was cut off by Luffy who yelled: "Oh, there´s Zoro! Oi Zoro, over here!"

Sanji turned his head and his eyes locked with their green haired roommate, Roronoa Zoro. He was wearing dark green pants, white t-shirt and a dark green scarf tied around his left arm.

"Hey Luffy!" he yelled, coming towards them "And the Shitty cook, too…" he mumbled, meaning Sanji.

"You got a problem, Marimo?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah, you" Zoro answered. Time seemed to freeze as these two glared at each other murderously.

"Don´t start to fight in the hallway; you´ll anger Ms. Hina again!" Zoro and Sanji turned their heads towards the voice, Zoro with look that he wanted to kill somebody and Sanji with hearts in his eyes.

"Your will is my law, Tashigi-swan!" Sanji told to the woman with singsong voice. Tashigi was a young woman about their age with glasses, almost shoulder length dark blue hair and no sense of fashion. She always did what she was told and never broke rules, so it was probably needless to say that she was many teachers´ favorite.

"I don´t care what that crazy bitch thinks" Zoro muttered, but Tashigi heard him.

"Do not insult Ms. Hina!" she barked. Ms. Black gage Hina was one of the teachers, a very strict pink haired woman.

"That´s going to take a while" Luffy whispered to Sanji "Zoro, we´ll go ahead!"

"Sure" Zoro said, watching the other two leave as he started to argue with Tashigi.

XXXXX

"There you two are. Where´s Zoro?" asked a black haired boy with a long nose when Sanji and Luffy arrived.

"Fighting with Tashigi-swan. Again!" Sanji growled, sitting down under a tree where they usually ate lunch. Luffy sat down too and asked: "Hey Usopp, where´s Chopper?"

The long nosed boy, Usopp, answered: "Stayed behind to help a teacher, he´ll be here soon."

"Okay" Luffy said and started to eat with the other two. Their little "gang" had eight members in total, but only five of them, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Chopper went to Raftell High. Luffy was always happy, carefree boy who was a second year student. Usopp was in same grade with their gang´s leader Luffy and was teacher Yasopp´s son. He was a bit of coward but still a good person and Luffy´s best friend along with Zoro, who was in third grade with Sanji and Tashigi. Zoro had trained swordsmanship in Tashigi´s father´s dojo since he was eight with Tashigi´s now dead twin sister Kuina. Tashigi was a swordsman too, but Zoro´s sworn enemy. Sanji was the "cook of the group" also known as the "pervert of the group" and the "gentleman of the group." Cook of the group was what everyone called him, pervert of the group was a nickname given by Zoro and gentleman of the group was what he liked to call himself. He was a good person who cared for all the member of the group even though he was often fighting with Zoro. And then there was Tony Tony Chopper, first year student and the group´s youngest. Chopper was what he was called by his friends though. He was only fourteen years old, but a real little genius who might have something to do with the fact that his parents were doctors.

"Hey, there he is!" Sanji yelled, waiving to Chopper who waived back.

"Sorry it took so long guys, I was helping the teacher!" the small boy said. He was only fourteen, yes, but he was small even for a fourteen year old. He was born in Africa so he had brown skin that almost matched his brown hair.

"Yeah, we heard from Usopp" Sanji said. Chopper took out his lunch and asked: "Where´s Zoro?"

"Fighting with Tashigi"

"Again?"

"Yep" everyone said in unison.

"Usopp-san!" Usopp turned his head towards the voice and saw two blond girls coming towards them.

"Hi Kaya, Margaret" he said. Shorter one of the two, Kaya, had blond hair that reached her shoulders and was wearing a yellow dress. She was Usopp´s girlfriend. Margaret was a little taller than Kaya and had short hair. She got herself in trouble often, mostly because of her too revealing clothes.

"Can we eat here today? Hancock and her sisters took our usual spot" Kaya asked.

"Sure" the guys replied and the girls sat down.

"Have you boys heard the latest big news?" Margaret asked excitedly.

"What news?" Zoro asked, finally arriving. All guys turned their heads towards Margaret, interested in what she had to say.

"The hottest guy in history is going to come to our school next month!" Margaret squealed.

Silence.

"Okay, who´s Margaret drooling over now?" Usopp asked from his girlfriend, making her giggle.

"Very funny Usopp" Margaret said with a pout, making the guys laugh.

"So who is it?" Chopper asked.

"The famous singer, handsome Portgas D. Ace!" Margaret squealed. Luffy´s face dropped.

"I´ve heard of him" Chopper said "He sings really well"

"Yeah and he´s really handsome too" Margaret said, making Kaya nod.

"More handsome than me?" Usopp asked. The girls looked away and the guys laughed at Usopp´s face.

"He´s not that special…" Luffy muttered, making the others turn to him.

"Oh yes he is!" Margaret protested "Ask any girl and the answer is same!"

"We´ll see about that" Luffy muttered "Hey, Vivi!" he yelled, getting the attention of a beautiful blue haired girl.

"Come over here!" Luffy yelled. The girl came, a bit confused. Her name was Nefertari Vivi, and she used to be the richest girl in school before her father went bankrupt. But unlike Hancock, the second richest, she was kind and good hearted young woman already back then and still was. She was, in a way, part of Luffy´s gang. She was a good friend of theirs, but wasn´t really counted as an official member.

"Yes?" she asked.

"So Vivi, have you heard the news?" Kaya asked. Vivi blinked, then: "Are you talking about the singer that is coming to our school next month?"

"Bingo!" Margaret said "He´s really hot right?"

Vivi blushed at Margaret´s bluntness.

"Well agues so" she said "But what does it matter? Good looks can only give a good first impression, they don´t really tell anything about the person."

Margaret frowned as Luffy said "See?"

"But you do agree with me that he´s awesome, right?" the blond insisted, making Kaya shook her head. Vivi thought for a moment.

"Well he´s good at his job and hot like you said, but it doesn´t tell if he´s a good person or not" she said. Luffy laughed at Margaret´s face.

"Well what do you know, you´ve never even dated anyone, and your taste might just be bad" Margaret told to her own defense.

"So Margaret, have _you _ever dated anyone?" Zoro asked with a smirk, knowing that she hasn´t. Margaret blushed and the others laughed. They were all more or less friends even though it didn´t always look like it.

"I actually have something I need to tell you" Vivi said, sitting down "A friend of mine is going to come to our school next Monday."

"Cool. Is it she or he?" Margaret asked.

"She. Her name is Nami and she´s moving here with her sister" Vivi told.

"Well this is what I call good news" Sanji said with a bright smile "Is she hot?"

"Is that all that you can think of?" Zoro asked, earning a glare from Sanji.

"Well I don´t really know about that…" Vivi said, sweat dropping. The others laughed and their lunch break went on with happy chatter all around.

XXXXX

Zoro glanced at Luffy every once in a while when they were walking home.

"Something bothering you Luffy?" he finally managed to ask.

"Nope" Luffy said quickly, turning his head. He was obviously lying. Zoro sighed.

"It´s about Ace right?" Zoro asked. Portgas D. Ace, the famous singer, was Luffy´s adopted older brother. Only two members in the gang besides Luffy knew this, the other one being Zoro.

"Yeah" Luffy said with a sigh. There was no use in trying to lie to Zoro "I don´t get it; why didn´t he tell me?"

"I suppose that´s not all" Zoro said, making Luffy nod. They knew each other too well.

"It´s just… Ace is so popular, but I´m not" he said. Zoro raised an eyebrow, asking: "But do you _need _to be popular when you have us?"

"That´s not what I meant" Luffy said quickly "Like you saw today, girls are always swooning over Ace. I´m not saying that I want that, but… it would be nice to have a girlfriend someday."

Zoro stared at him, speechless.

"I never knew you even wanted a girlfriend" he said finally. In his opinion Luffy had never shown any _that _kind of interest towards the opposite sex.

"You thought I´m a gay?" Luffy asked, sounding slightly offended. Zoro laughed at this.

"No" he said "And to be honest I´m surprised that you even know what it means"

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, punching Zoro in the arm. Zoro just laughed again, saying: "Just kidding"

"And don´t you worry Luffy; I´m sure that someday you´ll meet a girl who´s crazy enough to date you" he said with a serious face. Luffy smiled.

"Yeah, you´re ri- wait, what?" he said, registering what his friend had said "Zoro!"

"Yeah?" Zoro asked, starting to run away.

"You´re so dead!" Luffy yelled, going after his friend.

"You gotta catch me first!" Zoro yelled. And so the two young men run in the streets, all the way to their home.

**A.N: Okay, so here was the first chapter (which I wrote in one day by the way.) I know Luffy was a bit OOC, but it´s just a part of the story. I´ll try to make peoples´ ages match the real show, but I have to chance some of them to not to ruin the plot. And of course Hancock was one of these. Now the main pairing is, of course, LuNa, but there will be other pairings too. And don´t worry, Nami appears in chapter two (but I have no idea when that will be out.) Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N: I´ll probably start to update slower because my school starts again tomorrow and because of the other reason that´s in the author´s note at the end so if you want to know read it too.**

**Chapter 2: Moving in to the new apartment**

An orange car parked in to the parking lot of a modern apartment building. The door to the car´s front seat opened and out went a young woman, her shoulder length hair same color as the car. She had red brown eyes and she was wearing white miniskirt and dark blue t-shirt.

"It´s so hot in here" the woman said, waving her hand in front of her face. She had lived in a warm place her whole life, but too hot was always too hot.

"Stop complaining Nami" another woman said, coming out from the car´s driver's seat. She had purple hair, slightly shorter than Nami´s and a strange purple tattoo from her chest to her right shoulder. Her attire was simple; grey jeans and a yellow top along with sandals and red ribbon tied to her hair.

The orange haired woman, Nami, turned to face the other one.

"Gee Nojiko, no need to get mad" she said "It´s just so hot in here!"

The other woman, Nojiko, was her older sister. Someone who didn´t know it would never be able to tell, but that was no wonder since they were both adopted from different families.

"I know" Nojiko said, closing the door "But it´s not much hotter than back at home"

"Yeah, but it´s still a bit hotter" Nami said with a sigh, already wiping sweat away from her forehead. Nojiko laughed.

"Let´s go inside; Gen should already be there" she said. Gen was a nickname for Genzo, who was kind of like their father figure. They had been adopted by a single woman who had been close friends with him for years and now they pretty much thought the two of them as their parents even though they never called them mom or dad.

"Yeah, let´s go" Nami agreed and they left after Nojiko locked the car doors. The building had five floors, their apartment being in the fourth. It didn´t have an elevator, so they had to use stairs, but they didn´t really mind.

"You here Gen?" Nojiko asked as she unlocked the door to their apartment.

"In the kitchen!" he yelled. Nojiko and Nami went inside, careful to not step on any of the boxes.

"Hi Gen" Nami said as she got to the kitchen with her sister. Gen looked up at her. He was a man with black hair that was starting to get grey and black eyes. He was the sheriff of their small home village and was now wearing his brown uniform.

"Took you two long enough" he said "Most of the furniture is already in their places, but we still need to handle the ones that come in to your rooms"

"Good; now it won´t take too long" Nami said with a smile. Gen glared at her, saying: "Easy for you to say, brat. You haven´t been here the whole morning"

"Gee Gen, relax a little would you?" Nojiko said with a laugh. Gen sighed and stood up from the floor and asked: "So whose room do we start with?"

"Mine" both girls said at the same time, blinking afterwards.

"Nojiko´s room it is then" Gen decided, leaving the kitchen.

"What? Hey!" Nami protested.

"Better luck next time Nami" Nojiko said, patting her little sister on the shoulder and leaving to her room. Nami stuck her tongue out at her sister and went after her.

Hours later they had gotten all furniture in their places.

"Well I better leave now so I can get home before the night" Gen said. They were in Nami´s room since it was the last one they organized.

"You´re right" Nojiko said "Thanks for the help!" the two women chorused. Gen nodded, leaving the apartment.

"I´m so tired" Nami said "Luckily tomorrow is Sunday"

"Yeah" Nojiko said "I´m hungry; should we go eat outside? I don´t feel like cooking…"

"Sure, let´s go. We can start unpacking later" her little sister agreed "But first I need to take a shower"

"Yeah, me too"

XXXXX

Since Nami didn´t want to spend too much money they simply went for hamburgers in to McDonalds which was only one kilometer away from their apartment.

"You sure spare your money in every place you can" Nojiko said with a laugh "It´s not like we´re poor anymore"

"Yeah, but you know that I´ll need a lot of money when I graduate from high school" Nami defended herself, taking a bite from her hamburger.

"I know I know, for your dream" Nojiko said, taking a sip from her drink. Nami was about to eat a couple of fries but then she got a text message.

"I wonder who…" she mumbled, pulling her shell phone out. The message was from Vivi and it said: _"Meet you in the park near the school tomorrow at 12:00 am?"_

Nami shrugged and texted back: _"Sure"_

"Who was it?" Nojiko asked, finishing her hamburger.

"Vivi" Nami replied "I´m seeing her tomorrow in the park at 12:00 am"

"You sure you can find your way there?" Nojiko asked, munching on a fry. Nami looked at her funnily.

"Name one, even one time I´ve actually gotten lost" she said. Nojiko laughed.

"Sorry, can´t think of any" she said, making her little sister laugh.

"Though so"

XXXXX

Next morning Nami woke up from the floor. She couldn´t believe she had fallen asleep while unpacking. And on top of that she still haven´t unpacked everything.

"Damn it" Nami groaned, looking at the clock on the wall. It said 10:30 am.

"_I slept long" _she thought, deciding to go take a shower. Only ten minutes later she came back to her room with a towel around her body and hair. She took a good look at her room. It wasn´t big, but not small either. The wooden floor was painted with simple white and the wallpaper was bright green. On the opposite wall of the door there was a window with bright orange curtains and a table under it. Next to the table and the window was a bookshelf which was almost full. Against the same wall as the door was in were a big bed and a small table next to it. And against the fourth wall was a closet that held Nami´s clothes.

"Now what should I wear today?" Nami mumbled to herself, walking to her closet and opening it. She took out pink underwear, green top and dark blue shorts and then closed the closet. There was no need for socks in a day like this. She dropped her towel on the floor and dressed. She picked up the towel and walked over to her bed, dropping both towels on it. She took her hairbrush from the small table and brushed her hair.

"_Damn it" _Nami thought _"I forgot to put my mirror on to the wall"_

Nami sighed, deciding to use the bathroom´s mirror. She could put the mirror up later. She looked at herself from the bathroom mirror making sure she was looking fine and then went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. She noticed a note on the table and took it. It said: _"I´m going to see my new boss" _It was from Nojiko, she had gotten a job from the nearby bar and was working nightshifts.

"_So Noj went to check her working place, huh?" _Nami thought. She worked too, but she was able to handle her job from home. She turned gathered information in to maps; she had practiced it ever since she was a child. She had also studied navigation for years and was pretty good at it. And she had an excellent sense of direction.

Nami sighed. She threw the note in to a trash can, made herself a sandwich, poured a class of orange juice for her and sat down. She ate quietly, all kind of thoughts going through her head. What kind of people were Vivi´s friends; the ones she always talked about? Would they accept her even though she could be, like Vivi said, really violent sometimes? It´s not like she couldn´t get her own friends, but she´d just like to get along with her best friend´s friends. And the most important thing she wanted to find out was this: was Vivi telling the truth when she said she didn´t have a boyfriend? If she was, Nami would make sure she´d hook her up with someone. And if she was lucky she might be able to hook her sister up with one of Vivi´s friends, too. As far as she knew neither her sister or Vivi never had had a boyfriend, and she was planning on fixing that.

Nami giggled, knowing it wouldn´t be easy. Vivi as really shy and as far as she knew her sister had a really weird taste in men.

"_Well life is never easy…" _Nami thought, finishing her breakfast. She decided to watch TV until it was time to go see Vivi. She knew where the park was; she had checked it from a map last night. She dropped herself on the sofa in the living room and turned the TV on.

XXXXX

Vivi sat on leaned against a tree in the park, looking at her clock.

"_11:52… I´m a bit early" _she thought. And there was always a chance that Nami would arrive a little later than agreed since she didn´t know the area.

"Vivi!" never mind, there was no chance something like that would happen. Vivi turned her gaze to the left and saw an orange haired woman coming towards her. She smiled, saying: "Long time no see Nami"

"Yeah" Nami agreed, going to give her friend a hug "How have you been?"

"Fine, thanks. You?" she asked.

"Nothing to complain about" Nami answered "Our new apartment is nice and Nojiko got a job too, so we´ll be able to handle our rent."

"That´s good to hear" Vivi said as they started to walk out of the park.

"How about your father? Is he doing well?" Nami asked, making Vivi nod.

"Yes, he is doing surprisingly well and has been on his feet for a long time already" she said with a smile.

"Great" Nami said with a smile, stopping at the edge of the park "Where to?"

"Well I thought that you´d probably want to know the city a bit better and after that we could go shopping since you want anyway" Vivi told. Nami had excellent memory, especially when it came to remembering her surroundings.

"Sounds good to me" Nami said and they left the park. They walked around the town a bit, Vivi telling Nami what shops and coffee houses were good and which ones, well, weren´t. Of course they couldn´t go through the _whole _town, but the area between Nami and Nojiko´s apartment and the school was the top priority anyway.

"I think we could eat lunch here" Vivi said, looking at the restaurant they were standing in front of.

"Sure, but let´s eat something light since we´re going to go shopping" Nami said and Vivi agreed so they went inside. They took a table next to the window and sat down. Vivi ordered the day´s lunch which was vegetable soup and Nami chicken and rice.

"So Vivi, do you have a boyfriend yet?" Nami asked as they waited for their lunches. Vivi sighed; she knew her friend would ask this sooner or later.

"No, I don´t" she answered "So how are things going between you and Arlong?"

Nami´s smile fell, making Vivi realize she shouldn´t have asked that.

"We broke up" the orange haired woman muttered.

"I´m sorry" Vivi said "What exactly happened?"

"It was nothing, we just" Nami paused, thinking how to put it "Wanted different things from life" she finally said. Vivi nodded in understanding. She knew Nami´s dream and how important it was to her. If Arlong hadn´t accepted that it was no wonder to her why they had broke up.

"I see" Vivi said, not wanting to seem rude by asking too much. Right then a waiter came to them with their orders.

"Enjoy your food" she said cheerfully and left after the two girls thanked her. They ate in silence until Nami asked: "So Vivi, who were these good friends of yours again?"

"Well there´s Kohza who you´ve already met a couple of times" Vivi started.

"Oh yeah, the cute blonde guy. Isn´t he your childhood friend or something like that?"

"Yeah" Vivi said with a nod "And then there´s Luffy and his gang"

Nami raised an eyebrow. Vivi was friends with some gang? Now that´s something she didn´t expect.

"Not that kind of gang" Vivi said quickly as she noticed Nami´s face "Everyone just calls them "Luffy´s gang" or "Straw hat gang" since they are always together"

"I see"

"Okay, so their boss is Luffy. He´s in second grade and has a cheerful personality" that´s how Vivi said it, but others called him simpleminded "Then there´s Zoro, a quiet and sometimes a bit rude guy from the third grade, but he´s still a good person. Sanji is a real gentleman, but a bit weird. He is in same glass with Zoro."

Vivi kept a little break as she ate a bit of her soup before continuing: "Then there´s Usopp from Luffy´s class. He´s… unique"

Nami laughed, figuring out that that was Vivi´s polite way of saying someone was a bit weird. Vivi waited for her friend to stop laughing before continuing: "And then there´s Chopper, in his first year like me. He´s a nice little guy."

"Little guy?" Nami asked.

"Yeah well, he´s really small for a fourteen year old and acts a bit childishly" Vivi explained.

"Okay… wait, _fourteen _years old?" Nami asked. Vivi nodded with a laugh.

"Yeah, he´s a little genius, fourteen and already in high school" the blue haired woman told and continued eating.

"Okay, so all of these friends of yours are guys?" Nami asked, taking a bite of her food while waiting for her friend´s answer.

"Well all of the closest ones are, but of course I´m friends with some girls, too" Vivi said, telling Nami shortly about Margaret and Kaya. After the girls finished eating they went shopping like they had planned. In the end Vivi ended up with a bag of clothes and Nami with two bags of clothes and a third one for books, papers, etc.

"Well I´ll see you tomorrow at school" Nami said to Vivi as they left to separate directions.

"See ya!" Vivi yelled. While walking back home the only thing Nami could think about was how she would fit in her new school.

**A.N: Just so you know: I´ve been getting many good ideas for new stories lately, and I might start writing them now before my inspiration is gone, so updating this might take time (or not if I get even better inspiration for this) but don´t worry, I´m not going to completely stop writing this. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N: Njeh, sorry it took so long. I´ve just been busy with other stories, school and my freaking half sister taking over the computer! Anyway, on to the story!**

**Chapter 3: First day at the new school**

Luffy yawned, getting out of his bed. He looked at the clock; 7:54 am. The school started at 9:00 am sharp and the walk there didn´t take very long so he had time. He knew that Sanji was up by now to make their breakfast and lunches and Usopp and Chopper would wake up soon so he needed to hurry if he wanted to go to shower before them. Zoro always woke up just in time for breakfast and went to shower after it and was always ready to leave just in time. Franky on the other hand usually woke up for breakfast just like Zoro and then went to his work.

Now you´re probably wondering about two things: who is Franky and why do these six people live in the same house? Well the answer is quite simple: Luffy and his gang lived in a house that Franky owned, each one of them had rented their own rooms. Why did Franky rent rooms from his house to school kids you ask? Well you see he was a mechanic and just loved to build stuff. He had billed himself a way too big house and while he could pay all the bills on his own if he wanted to it got a bit lonely without a roommate. And why Luffy´s gang? Well it was hard to find a place where the hyper active Straw hat would live without causing headache to the neighbors and Franky was Usopp´s old friend so his house did just fine.

Luffy got in the bathroom just before Usopp, leaving the other boy mumble something in the hallway.

"Luffy got there first again?" Chopper asked as he came out of his room.

"Yeah, as usual" Usopp confirmed with a frown. Luckily for them Luffy never took too much time in the bathroom. Why is that you ask? Well before Luffy did spent lot of time in bathroom and when he came out Usopp joked that if he spends too much time in the bathroom he´d turn in to a girl. It happened when they were kids and since nobody else knew about it (except for Chopper who also believed it) nobody had told Luffy it wasn´t true. Soon Luffy did come out and tackled Usopp on his way out so that Chopper could get in before the older boy did.

"Hey!" Usopp protested as Chopper closed and locked the door. Luffy just laughed goodheartedly, walking back to his room.

XXXXX

Nami looked around, Nojiko walking by her side. They were heading school and Nami was looking around wishing that she could spot Vivi or even Kohza. She wasn´t shy or anything and she did have her sister with her, but most people know that going to a completely new school is never that easy that someone would think.

"Nami! Nojiko!" Vivi yelled, coming towards them with her friend Kohza. Kohza was a year older than Vivi. He had short blonde hair, a small scar across his left eye and he had well built muscles. He didn´t really follow fashion, but his clothes did always look good on him; he usually dressed in jeans or brown pants, a simple t-shirt, sometimes a blue scarf around his neck and always a brown long coat, which was tied to his waist in hot days like today.

"Hey Vivi! And Kohza, wasn´t it?" Nami asked with a pause, just to be sure. Kohza nodded.

"You and Kohza have the same first class" Vivi informed Nami "So he can show you the way"

"That´s nice" Nami said with a smile.

"Vivi" Nojiko said, getting the younger girl´s attention "Do you know someone from my class? Unlike Nami I get pretty easily lost in new and crowed places"

"Well I do know some of your new classmates…" Vivi said, thinking "Why don´t we continue our way to school and check if we can find someone from your class from in front of the school?"

"Okay" Nojiko said and the four of them continued walking. Soon enough they arrived to the school.

"Well this was a good timing" Vivi said, noticing a familiar third year student a few meters away "Tashigi-san!"

The woman turned her head to their direction, smiling and waving a bit as she saw Vivi.

"_No sense of fashion" _was Nami´s first thought as she saw the older girl. Tashigi came to them and asked: "What is it Vivi?" without waiting a reply she said: "Oh, these must be the new students!"

"Yes" Vivi said, introducing the two other girls "This is my old friend Nami and her sister Nojiko. Nami´s in Kohza´s class and Nojiko is in yours. This is Tashigi, the top student of the third year"

Kohza rolled his eyes at the "top student" thing. Why did it have to be mentioned?

"Yes, so if you need some help just ask from me" Tashigi said with a smile.

"Well actually I´d need help to get in to my first class" Nojiko told.

"Alright, follow me" Tashigi said "Do you need any help"

"No thanks, I´m going with Kohza and I don´t get lost that easily anyway" Nami told.

"Okay, agues I´ll see you later then" Tashigi said as she left with Nojiko.

"Vivi!" a small boy yelled, running towards the three people that were left.

"Tony-kun!" Vivi yelled as she noticed him. Vivi was the only one who called him that; everyone else said Chopper. He stopped right in front of Vivi, asking: "Have you seen the others? They left when I was still looking for my math book…"

"No I haven´t, but we need to go to class soon anyway" she told, suddenly remembering that Nami and Kohza were still there.

"Oh" she said "Tony-kun, this is my friend Nami. She is in same class with Kohza. Nami, this is my classmate Tony."

"Nice to meet you" Nami said as they shook hands.

"We should go that we won´t be late" Vivi said. Chopper nodded and they left for their class.

"We should get going too" Kohza said. Nami nodded and followed him.

XXXXX

Once the class had already started Nojiko looked around herself. She was sitting at the front next to Tashigi, so it wasn´t that easy. When she came to the class she noticed a beautiful black haired girl, who by her appearance might be the class´s diva. But hey, no judging before knowing. There were two guys, blond one and a green haired one, in the back who just didn´t stop arguing. The teacher had told them to shut up three times already!

XXXXX

Nami and Kohza got to the class at the same time as their teacher, who just happened to be the most carefree of all the teachers, Shanks. Once Nami had introduced herself to the class Shanks told her to go take the empty seat next to Usopp. There was only one empty seat in the class, so it was easy to guess which one of the other students was Usopp.

"_Wasn´t he one of Vivi´s friends?" _Nami thought, glancing at the long nose as she sat on her seat. After that the teacher started his lesson and Nami found it hard to pay attention to what he was saying. She just couldn´t focus.

"_Maybe I just got too little sleep last night…"_

XXXXX

"Finally, I´m starving!" Luffy yelled as he and Usopp headed for lunch.

"When wouldn´t you be?" Shanks, the red haired, one armed teacher asked from behind them.

"Hi Shanks, what´s up?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"You failed your test again, that´s what" Shanks said, flipping Luffy´s hat off of his head.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, catching his hat before it hit the floor.

"I´m serious Luffy" Shanks said with a serious tone, which didn´t happen too often "You need help with your geography classes"

"Yeah" Luffy mumbled.

"But don´t ask help from Usopp or Yasopp; they're almost as bad as you!" Shanks said, wanting to cheer Luffy up.

"Hey!" Usopp protested "I´ve always passed all my tests!"

"Yeah; barely" Luffy agreed, laughing with Shanks.

"At least neither of you is as bad as the Marimo" Sanji said, coming to them with Zoro.

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled at him and the four others laughed.

"Maybe Luffy could help you" Shanks said, making the other three laughs even harder.

"Why you-!"

"Well I better get going" Shanks said, walking away.

"Don´t run away!" Zoro screamed.

"You´ll get your revenge later" Usopp said "Let´s go to eat"

Zoro glared at him, but agreed with a sigh when Luffy yelled: "Food!"

"Hey Zoro" Usopp whispered "Want to see something funny?"

"Sure" Zoro said with a shrug.

"Hey Sanji" Usopp started "Did you know that we have a new, _hot girl _in our class?"

"You do?" Sanji asked as they started to walk.

"Yeah, and guess what she said about what type of guys she likes?" Usopp said, holding down his growing smirk.

"What was it?" Sanji asked hearts in his eyes.

"She hates blonds" Usopp said, watching how Sanji sunk down to the floor in despair.

"You were right; this is fun" Zoro half whispered to the now laughing long nose.

"When did you speak with her, Usopp? I didn´t notice" Luffy said, making Usopp froze. Luffy was going to ruin this!

"What?" Sanji asked, turning towards Usopp who was sweating.

"You shitty liar!" Sanji yelled, starting to beat the younger boy up.

"That´s funny too" Zoro said as he and Luffy continued walking, leaving the other two behind. When they arrived to their regular lunch break place under the big tree they noticed that Chopper was already there and so were Vivi, her friend Kohza and someone else. It didn´t take long for Luffy to realize that it was the new girl from his class and Zoro realized it too since Vivi had told them about her earlier.

"Hey guys!" Chopper yelled, waiving as he noticed them. Luffy and Zoro walked up to them and Luffy immediately sat next to Chopper, but Zoro sat a bit further away since he knew that Sanji would want to sit close the women.

"Aw, you started eating without us?" Luffy asked with a pout, looking at Chopper´s lunch box.

"You always do that Lu" Zoro said as the smaller boy´s defense.

"But that´s completely different!" Luffy protested.

"How so?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It just is" Luffy said.

"Idiot" Kohza mumbled, earning a glare from Vivi.

"Kohza!"

"Just for you to know: _we _are the only ones that are allowed to call him idiot" Zoro said to Kohza, who just rolled his eyes.

"Yea- wait, what? Zoro!" Luffy yelled, making the green haired man and the others laugh. Luffy pouted again, opening his lunch box.

"So, who were you again?" Zoro asked, turning his attention to Nami.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce her" Vivi said, realizing her mistake "This is Nami from the second grade"

"They are Luffy from your grade and Zoro from Nojiko´s grade. And those two" she pointed at Sanji and bloody Usopp that were coming towards them "Are Sanji and Usopp"

Nami raised an eyebrow at the bloody long nose; what the heck happened to him?

"Waah, what happened to you Usopp!" Chopper panicked, running over to his friend.

"That´s what Hina would like to know, too" Ms. Hina said, walking towards the group.

"Sanji happened" Usopp told, glaring at the blond who sat down and started to eat his lunch. Hina glared at him, saying: "Hina is not happy"

"Hina is never happy" Zoro said, making Luffy and Usopp burst out laughing. Hina turned her glare to Zoro, asking: "Do you want to say something, Roronoa?"

"I think I already did" Zoro stated simply, making Usopp and Luffy laugh even harder.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself, Roronoa" Hina said "And you, Blackleg, are getting a warning"

With that she left. Zoro glanced at Luffy and Usopp and then started to laugh.

"Looks like Ms. Hina had a good day today!"

"Good day?" Nami asked confusedly from Vivi.

"Yeah" Kohza answered for his friend "Usually she drags all trouble makers, especially those guys, to the principal´s office immediately"

"Yeah, but always only one at the time" Usopp cut in.

"Why is that by the way?" Kohza asked, but Usopp shrugged.

"No idea"

"So Vivi, you´re actually friends with the school´s worst trouble makers?" Nami asked with a smirk. The guys went silent, knowing how Vivi always panicked when someone though bad way about them or her. However to their surprise Vivi didn´t panic or even start explaining anything this time. The boys looked at her weirdly, wanting an explanation.

"I´ve known Nami for years; she herself was a school bully" Vivi explained.

"I was not, I just beat up some annoying boys" Nami defended herself. The others sweat dropped, thinking: _"Same thing!"_

Zoro sighed as Chopper came to hide behind his back. He did that pretty often.

"Just for you to know; they aren´t bullies" Kohza said "They´re just the biggest trouble makers in this school´s history"

"So what? You get into trouble too" Luffy said.

"Not nearly as much as you do" Kohza shot back.

"Don´t blame him; he was probably just badly raised" Sanji said, finally starting to eat.

"Yeah" Luffy said.

"You´re admitting it!" the others yelled. Luffy ignored them and turned his attention to Nami, finally fully taking in her appearance. She had her shoulder length orange hair in pigtails; she was wearing white t-shirt and jeans. She seemed to be about same height as him and was really skinny.

"So Nami-chan, why did you come to this school?" Sanji asked.

"She got kicked out of her last school" Kohza said, earning a glare from Nami.

"Kohza´s only joking" Vivi said quickly, not wanting Nami and Kohza to start a fight.

"I just wanted to move in to the city and so did my sister, so we did just that" Nami replied.

"What a boring reason" Luffy pouted, earning a kick from Sanji.

"You´ll get in trouble again, Sanji-kun" Vivi said, trying to calm the blonde down.

"Don´t worry Vivi dear, I can handle this" Sanji said, glaring at Zoro as the swordsman chuckled.

"You have something to say, Marimo?" the annoyed blond asked.

"Not anything you would be able to understand, Erocook" Zoro said.

"You want to fight!"

"Don´t start again…" Vivi muttered, but was ignored as Zoro yelled: "Bring it on!"

"Okay, I´ve decided!" Luffy yelled randomly, causing Zoro and Sanji to trip over their own legs.

"What the heck are you planning now!" they both yelled. Luffy turned to face them, saying: "We´re going to have a welcoming party to Nami and the other new girl next Friday!" he yelled.

"Great idea!" Sanji yelled, going to his love mode.

"Why?" Usopp asked.

"Because we haven´t had a party for a while" Luffy told, not bothering or realizing to try cover the truth.

"But won´t your landlord gets mad?" Vivi asked.

"I don´t think Franky will mind" Chopper said, knowing that Franky liked partying too.

"You´re coming, right?" Luffy asked from Nami who everyone were now looking at.

"Yeah, sure" Nami replied but couldn´t help but think _"What have I gotten myself in to?"_

"Bring your sister too" Sanji said with a grin.

"Sure, in case she doesn´t have work then" Nami replied.

"Where does she work?" Vivi asked. Nami thought for a moment; what was that bar´s name again? Oh yeah, it was-

"In Party´s bar, it´s near our apartment" as Nami said this Luffy choked in his food and his five friends laughed.

"Seriously!" Luffy yelled.

"Yeah" Nami said, asking: "Why?"

"The owner of the bar, Makino, is an old friend of Luffy´s" Zoro answered for his friend.

"You better watch what you do and say over there" Usopp continued for him "For some reason the principal goes there pretty often"

"The principal? Why?" Nami asked. Everyone, except Luffy who was shaking, shrugged.

"Have no idea" Zoro said.

"Maybe he´s secretly a drunk?" Kohza suggested, but raised an eyebrow when nobody laughed.

"What?"

"Ummm Kohza, behind you" Usopp said, pointing behind the blonde. Kohza blinked, but when he heard a cough from behind him he went pale.

"So Kohza, who´re we talking about?" the principal asked, anger clear in his voice. Nami raised an eyebrow as she saw Luffy stand up and run away from the scene. When he was out of sight Nami turned around to look at the principal she had never met before. He was a big, muscular man with a scar over his left eye. He was already old, or at least his white hair made him seem like it. But his attitude did not; he seemed to be lively like he´d still be under his forties!

"Teacher Shanks?" Kohza said, making it sound like a question. He used Shanks´ name because _anyone _could see that he and the principal didn´t get along. The principal´s angry face eventually chanced in to a thoughtful one.

"Well he _is _the kind of guy I would imagine in a bar every other night" he said, making the students sweat drop.

"So you´re new here?" he suddenly blurted out, looking at Nami.

"Yeah?" Nami half asked and half said. The principal laughed.

"Looks like you´re now more or less in the school´s worst delinquent gang!" he yelled.

"Is he high?" they heard a whisper a couple of meters away.

"Most likely" another replied. Everyone looked at the source of the voices, seeing none other than teacher Shanks and his big nosed friend Buffy who one of the school´s cleaners.

"You two have something to say?" the principal asked, cracking his knuckles.

"Not at all Sir" Shanks said, his tone betraying his words. The two seemed to have a staring contest while Buggy inched away from Shanks, just in case a fight would break out.

"Brat" the principal said after a while and walked away. After he was out of sight Shanks, Buggy and the boys laughed.

"I wouldn´t have been surprised if he had actually hit me" Shanks laughed, making the girls sweat drop.

"Isn´t he a teacher?" Nami asked from her friend, who just laughed a bit nervously.

"Would have done good to you; last time he was able to shut you up for a couple of hours" Buggy sneered and got hit by Shanks. Everyone sweat dropped again.

"Are they insane?" Nami asked.

"Well the principal is the worst" Nami turned around and saw Luffy standing behind him.

"Where did you run off to?" Nami asked. Shanks, hearing her question, said: "Now that´s an interesting story. You see, Luffy-"

"Shut up Shanks!" Luffy screamed, attacking Shanks with his fists clenched. The teacher just laughed and dodged all the straw hated boy´s attacks. Nami just stared at them and finally turned to the other boys with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Luffy´s known Shanks for years, but none of us really know how" Usopp told "They´re close and fight all the time"

"I suppose Shanks is kind of like a father figure to him" Zoro said while looking at them, taking a bite from his lunch.

"A father figure? What gave you that idea?" Sanji asked, glancing at Luffy and Shanks who were still fighting.

"Luffy once told me that his father has been busy with his work as long as he can remember. He doesn´t know him very well" Zoro said "But he does know Shanks and Shanks knows him, they´ve been good friends for years."

"Kind of like Sanji and that old cook Zeff?" Usopp asked, making Zoro nod.

"Something like that" he said.

"Well that explains a lot" Sanji said.

"Didn´t he once say that he got that hat of his from teacher too?" Vivi asked.

"Yeah" Zoro confirmed "It´s his treasure"

"Treasure?" Nami asked, confused. How could someone keep an old worn out hat as a treasure? …well she probably wasn't one to talk since the orange crows were her treasure, but still.

"Yeah" Usopp said "In elementary school he beat up one boy who made fun of his hat!"

"I remember that" Sanji said with a chuckle. Nami sweat dropped.

"Is there something wrong with his head?" she muttered, looking at the raven haired boy again.

"Probably" everyone, even Vivi, said in unison.

"What´re you guys talking about?" Luffy asked as he walked back to them.

"Nothing" Usopp said with a laugh.

"We should go back to our classes" Vivi said suddenly.

"Yeah" Sanji agreed, getting up and so did everyone else.

"Don´t forget to tell Nojiko about the party" Vivi said to Nami before walking off with Chopper.

"I won´t" Nami said as she started to walk to her class with Kohza, Luffy and Usopp.

"What class do we have now?" Kohza asked.

"Math" Nami replied, making Kohza and Luffy sigh.

"Don´t start complaining; I´m the one everyone´s always mad at!" Usopp hissed.

"Why´s that?" Nami asked.

"Our math teacher is Yasopp, Usopp´s father" Kohza told "That guy goes on and on about his adventures when he was younger and about Usopp"

"Adventures?" Nami asked, raising an eyebrow as they entered their class.

"Yeah" Luffy said, sitting down on to his seat "He, Shanks and bunch of other people used to travel around the world investigating areas nobody else had enough courage to go into!"

Nami blinked. She would never had thought that their teacher was _that _Shanks, one of those famous people who traveled around the world finding new species and all.

"Do you know why did he quit?" Nami asked, noticing how Luffy looked away as she asked this. Usopp shrugged.

"Probably because he lost his arm" Kohza said. Nami nodded in understanding; that _did _sound like a good reason. It couldn´t be easy walking around jungles and other dangerous places with only one arm.

"Okay everyone, into your seats!" Yasopp said as he came to the class. Everyone quickly obeyed, noticing that the teacher was in a really bad mood. That didn´t happen often but when it did everyone knew better than to annoy him.

"What are you so mad about Yasopp? Did Shanks put sugar in your coffee again?"

Well, everyone except Luffy.

Yasopp glared at him, saying: "Yes he did, but that´s not the reason"

"Then what is?" Luffy asked, titling his head to side.

Usopp shook his head and the others thought: _"Don´t annoy him more, idiot!"_

"You want to know what it is" Yasopp asked, annoyed "Half of the class failed the test last week, that´s what it is!"

Silence

"That test was too difficult and you did it like that on purpose!" Most of the class yelled.

"No it wasn´t!" Yasopp yelled, hitting the table "I got full points in your age and Usopp got almost full points too!"

Everyone glared at Usopp, who just laughed nervously.

"Umm… it was good luck?" he asked, sweating.

"This is ridiculous" Kohza said "What kind of teacher makes a whole test full of questions where you need to count the best shooting distances?"

"He does" Luffy said, pointing at Yasopp. Nami sweat dropped as the others yelled: "No shit Sherlock!"

"Tsh, just so you know Kohza, if Usopp doesn´t count you got the highest score of the class" Yasopp said, making Kohza blink. Now everyone glared at him and Usopp laughed.

"Luffy got the lowest score didn´t he?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah"

"Shut up!" Luffy yelled, making the whole class laugh. After Yasopp stopped laughing he said: "Alright, take out your books so we can start."

Everyone obeyed and the class begun.

XXXXX

"What a day!" Nami groaned as she and Nojiko were walking back home.

"How so?" Nojiko asked.

"Well first of all: Vivi´s friends are crazy, especially one of them. He didn´t shut up even once, excluding the time the principal came to the class, and on top of that he got me in to trouble!" Nami yelled. Nojiko laughed, saying: "You would probably have gotten yourself in trouble even without his help"

Nami glared at her sister, making the older woman smile apolitically.

"So what did he do?" she asked. Nami sighed.

"Well I was walking to my last class with him, Kohza and… I think the third one´s name was Usopp. Well anyway, we were walking in the hallway and then those two idiots got the idea to make it a race who got in to the class first. They didn´t get far when the other one, Luffy I believe was his name, ran right into the porter."

"Ouch" Nojiko commented. Nami nodded and continued: "It seems like they cause trouble often or that´s what the porter said. He seemed to really hate them. And when he noticed me and Kohza he gave us a warning even though we didn´t even do anything!"

"Well that sucks" Nojiko said "Tashigi, that girl from my class, did warn me about Vivi´s friends though. Said that they are the school´s worst hooligans"

"Can´t say no to that" Nami said "Oh and they are keeping us a welcoming party next Friday, told me to make sure you come too."

"Well that can´t be that bad, can it?"

"…"

"…"

"Yeah right" both girls said, sighing as they walked back home.

**A.N: Hmm… a bit longer one this time, I hope it makes up for taking so long. Well anyway, I wanted to tell you that even though LuNa is the main pairing in this, this will have other ones too (like the mention of ArlongXNami in chapter two) so if you have any ideas or wishes, feel free to tell me! If I see it fit to the story then I´ll put it there. And you´ll get a cookie if you realized who the porter was. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Before the party**

Nami sat down next to Nojiko. It was Friday and a lunch break. And today Luffy and the others were going to keep the party.

"What´s up Nami? You usually eat with Vivi and her friends" Nojiko asked.

"Those idiots are driving me nuts!" was the orange haired woman´s reply.

"Doesn´t surprise me" said Tashigi who was sitting across from Nojiko "So what did they do?"

"Well better question would be what they didn´t do, the answer would be shorter" Nami told "But for example they´re always loud and that Luffy tries to steal food from others every time we had lunch!"

"Are you regretting that you agreed to go to the party?" Nojiko asked, getting a look from her sister that said "Hell yeah!"

"But you´re still going there, aren´t you?" Tashigi asked, sipping her drink.

"Agues I have to; I don´t want to disappoint Vivi" Nami said "And I have a feeling that they, especially Luffy, wouldn´t accept a "no" since I already agreed once"

"Agues I´ll come too" Nojiko said. She hadn´t spent time with Vivi´s friends and if what Nami always told her was true she was pretty sure that she didn´t even want to, but it wouldn´t hurt to just go in to a one party.

"Were you invited?" Nami asked from Tashigi. She didn´t know the older girl as well as her sister did since she was always with Vivi.

"Of course" Tashigi replied "Everyone were"

"Who do you mean by everyone?" Nojiko asked.

"Literally everyone from this school" Tashigi replied, causing the sisters to yell: "WHAT!"

They blushed as they felt many stares on their backs.

"Seriously, what?" Nami asked again, this time with much more quiet voice.

"They always invite the whole school to their parties" Tashigi explained "But not nearly everyone are crazy enough to actually go there so it´s never too crowded, I think"

"Have you ever been in their parties?" Nojiko asked, making Tashigi sigh.

"Once" she said "And that was enough"

Nami and Nojiko looked at each other with worry, now really unsure about this evening.

"Well since Vivi goes there it can´t be that bad" Nojiko said, but quickly asked from her sister: "She´s coming right?"

"I´m pretty sure she is" Nami said. Nojiko was right; since Vivi was okay with going there it couldn´t be so bad… probably.

XXXXX

"Way to go, Shithead, you scared Nami-san away" Sanji growled to Luffy when he saw Nami walking to another table away from their tree.

"Why do you say it´s my fault?" Luffy asked, trying to steal food from Kohza who slapped his hand away and said: "There´s one reason"

"And the fact he´s always so loud is probably another" Usopp added.

"It´s not like you´re any better" Luffy mumbles, causing Zoro and Kohza to laugh.

"Or maybe she got tired of _somebody´s _flirting" Zoro said, glancing at the older blonde beside Vivi.

"Just what are you trying to say, Shitty Marimo?" Sanji asked with a glare.

"Are you really too stupid to realize?" Zoro asks. They glare at each other, but Vivi goes between them before a fight brakes out.

"Don´t start again; I´m sure it wasn´t anyone´s fault. She probably just wanted to eat with her sister for once" she said. Of course she knew that it wasn´t true but she thought that by saying it she could stop the others from fighting.

"You think so?" Chopper asked innocently, completely believing what his friend was saying. What reason would she have to lie anyway?

"Yes I do" Vivi said.

"Have you guys gotten your house ready for the party?" Kohza asked. Usopp nodded.

"Yeah; everything´s ready for the evening" he said.

"We´re gonna party!" Luffy cheered.

"How many plates were you planning to break this time?" Kohza asked from the raven haired boy, remembering their last party.

"Hey! I wasn´t the only one who broke them!" Luffy protested, pointing at Usopp and Chopper.

"Zoro broke some too! And that Kidd guy!" Usopp said.

"I only broke two!" Zoro defended himself. Kohza shook his head, muttering: "Today is going to be a long night…"

"You don´t need to come if you´re too afraid of getting shards in your feet" Zoro said with a smirk.

"I´m not afraid, I´m annoyed" Kohza hissed, wanting to be the one to get the last word.

"Sure" Zoro said, making Luffy, Usopp and Chopper laugh. Kohza glared at him, but didn´t find anything smart to say so he let it be.

"So when is the party starting?" Vivi asked.

"There´s no time really; people just come and go when they want" Sanji said "Except that Luffy´s probably trying to stop people from leaving once they´ve come in."

"Most likely" the others said and Luffy just laughed.

"Of course" he said "It´s a party!"

"That makes no sense!" the others yelled. Luffy ignored them and asked: "Do you guys know how many are coming?"

"Same people as usual, I suppose" Sanji told, finishing his lunch.

"Meaning the psychopaths of this school" Kohza translated.

"You always come, too" Zoro pointed out, causing the others to laugh.

"You know what I meant!" Kohza yelled his face red.

"Did he mean he´s a psychopath?" Zoro asked and Sanji shrugged.

"Dunno"

XXXXX

"I´m gonna take a shower" Nami mumbled as she got home with Nojiko.

"So will I so don´t take too long" Nojiko said, lazily throwing her back in to a corner.

"Not longer than you would" Nami said, sticking her tongue out at her sister. Nojiko rolled her eyes and said: "Just hurry up; I want to be ready when Vivi comes to get us"

Three hours later their doorbell rang and Nojiko went to open the door.

"Oh, hi guys. We´re almost ready; you can come inside to wait" Nojiko told to Kohza and Vivi who were standing outside.

"Thanks Nojiko" Vivi said, coming inside with her friend. She was wearing white shorts, striped top with two different shades of blue on it and her green and black striped jacket was open. She also had white high heeled boots and her hair was up in a ponytail.

Kohza wore simple jeans, a black t-shirt that said "Leader" and his usual brown coat and sunglasses.

"Where´s Nami?" Vivi asked.

"In her room" Nojiko said "The one in the left"

"Thanks" Vivi said and left for the room.

"Would you like something to drink?" Nojiko asked from Kohza, but the blond just shook his head.

"No thanks. Just get ready so we can leave" he said.

"I´ll go finish my makeup, then" Nojiko said, leaving to her room. Kohza sighed, wanting to leave already.

XXXXX

The party had already started since the first guests came about half an hour ago, but nothing had gone broken yet. But that usually started around ten pm anyway, so there was no rush.

"Keep it down you bitch!" Kidd, a redhead from third year, yelled to Margaret who was singing karaoke. He was a very short tempered young man and his looks were a clear warning to not mess with him.

"Stop complaining; this is a party! And a party needs music!" Margaret yelled back.

"You call that music!" yelled Killer, Kidd´s blonde friend. Nobody, except maybe Kidd, knew his real name so everyone called him Killer. Unlike the others he had never gone to high school and was now working as a mailman. And that´s what everyone always got good laughs from.

"Yes I do!" Margaret yelled "Do you think you could do better, huh!"

Killer rolled his eyes, muttering: "Like I´d fall for that"

"Hey Zoro, come to dance!" Luffy cheered, dancing in the middle of the living room.

"Like hell I will!" Zoro yelled, taking a sip from his beer.

"Vivi´s here" Chopper said, hearing the doorbell ring. He knew that it was Vivi because she was the only one who bothered to ring the bell when they had a party. Luffy charged to the door, yelling: "Welcome!"

**A.N: Ahem… I decided to end it here just because. I just noticed while writing this chapter that Kohza has a much bigger part in the story than I originally planned… oh well, doesn´t matter. I got no reviews for last chapter, so please review now.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N: I´m sorry that it took so long, but in case anyone wants to know I have tons of excuses: I´ve been reading to different tests, studying Japanese, reading, getting new ideas that ruin my concentration to this one, just have been lazy etc. And also I started a new (and my first M rated) story called "Drunk." If you like Sabo you should read it. And don´t worry; the first chapter doesn´t have anything M rated yet.**

**Chapter 5: Truth or dare?**

"Hey Luffy" Vivi said with a smile as she came in with Kohza and the two sisters. Nami glanced at Luffy. He was wearing simple jeans, red t-shirt and his old straw hat. She was happy that she and Nojiko hadn´t dressed in to anything too fancy. She was wearing a yellow skirt and a white t-shirt that had red text that said "Devil." Nojiko had a red ribbon with silver glitter in it on her head. She was wearing a short denim skirt, white top and denim jacket on it.

"Vivi-chan, Nami-san, it´s good to see you!" they heard from the kitchen and Sanji danced out. The girls sweat dropped.

"And it´s good to see you too Nojiko-san, we have some shared classes. You remember me, don´t you?" Sanji asked, kissing Nojiko´s hand. Nojiko´s eye twitched; Tashigi had warned her about this pervert.

"Who would ever forget your ugly face anyway?" Zoro asked with a smirk, coming towards them.

"What was that, Marimo?" Sanji asked.

"You didn´t hear me?" Zoro asked.

"Here we go…" Kohza mumbled with a sigh, leaving for the living room.

"How about we go to the living room too?" Vivi suggested, wanting to get away from the starting fight.

"That might be a good idea" Nami said, quickly going after Kohza with the other two close behind. She looked around herself in the living room; recognizing most of the people from their school.

"Looks like most of the quests haven´t come yet" Vivi said, looking around.

"How many there usually is?" Nojiko asked.

"I never really count" Vivi admitted "But the house is never too full, so don´t worry"

Both sisters had seen the later part coming because of what Tashigi had told them, but that was something they weren´t going to say. When a crash was heard Kohza commented: "There went the first plate"

The girls sweat dropped.

The party was a bit awkward for the girls at first, but when Nami got a bit drunk and Nojiko found someone to discuss with it started to feel like a real party for them too. Some guys started to flirt with Nami and she flirted back, but if anyone tried to touch her she quickly found better accompany. It was almost midnight when Usopp suddenly yelled: "Let´s play truth or dare!"

"No" almost whole room chorused.

"Why not?" Luffy whined, liking the idea.

"It´s childish" Kohza said.

"And boring" Zoro added.

"You´re just afraid you will have to tell something embarrassing about yourselves" Nami said with a smirk, haven drunk enough to play a risky game like truth or dare.

"Or they´re afraid that we dare them to do something way too hard for them" Sanji added with a smirk.

"Say what?" Kohza asked.

"Now now boys, it´s nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone has their secrets" Nojiko said, knowing that the two young men would fall for it any minute now. The said two glared at the sisters. One two three-

"Bring it on!" both Kohza and Zoro yelled.

"Could they be simpler?" Helmeppo, a blonde ugly guy from the first year asked from his pink haired friend Coby, also from the first year.

"That´s rude, Helmeppo-san" was the boy´s only reply.

"Yosh! Who else is going to play?" Luffy asked. There was a silence and then, one by one people started to come to Luffy anyway. In the end the game had fifteen people: Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, Kohza, Nami, Nojiko, Vivi, Sanji, Chopper, for some reason Coby and Helmeppo, Margaret, Kaya, Killer and by some miracle Kidd. Zoro gave the bottle to Luffy and said: "You spin first"

"Okay" Luffy said, spinning the bottle. It pointed Sanji.

"Truth or dare?" Luffy asked, grinning.

"Truth" Sanji answered, knowing that if he said dare Luffy would tell him to go make food for him. He knew he was right when Luffy looked disappointed. He thought for a moment and then asked: "Why do you always run after every single woman you see?"

The whole room went silent, even those who weren´t playing. All eyes were on Sanji, waiting for his answer.

"Does it really matter?" the blonde asked.

"Answer the question, coward" Zoro said. Sanji glared at him and then muttered: "It´s just a habit"

"That´s it? A habit?" Kohza asked, trying his best to hold his laugh.

"That wasn´t a real answer" Zoro said.

"Shut up Marimo" Sanji hissed, glaring at the swordsman.

"Say again?" Zoro asked, irritated.

"Cut it out, both of you" Margaret said, knowing that if those two started a fight something would definitely break.

"Spin the bottle already!" Luffy yelled to Sanji, starting to get impatient.

"Yeah yeah" Sanji said with a final glare at Zoro´s direction and spin the bottle. It ended up pointing Nojiko.

"Don´t take a dare" Kohza and Zoro warned her. Before Sanji even had a chance to glare at them Margaret told to Nojiko: "I´d listen those two in this one if I were you"

"…truth…" Nojiko mumbled, deciding to believe Margaret. She realized that trusting the blond woman was the right thing to do when she saw Sanji´s disappointed face. The blonde thought for a moment before saying: "Tell me about your family"

Killer chuckled and Kidd yelled: "Come up with something interesting, damn it!"

"Shut up!" Sanji hissed. He _could have _asked something more "interesting" but he didn´t because he was a gentleman.

"Well as you know there´s my little sister Nami" she started, but was interrupted by Killer who said: "You don´t look the same at all"

"We´re not blood related" Nami said simply, causing Zoro and Luffy exchange looks.

"Then there´s our adoptive mother Bellemere and Gen, whose pretty much like a father figure to us" Nojiko finished.

"You just couldn´t come up with anything better" Killer mumbled, getting a glare from Sanji.

"Could you spin the bottle, Nojiko-san?" Vivi said, wanting to avoid the fight that was about to break out.

"Sure" Nojiko said and spun the bottle. It ended up pointing at Killer, making Nojiko smirk.

"Oh shit" the masked man cursed, making the others snicker.

"Truth or dare?" the violet haired woman asked slyly.

"Dare" Killer replied immediately. Nojiko thought for a moment and the said: "Take your mask off"

Everyone gasped; no one had seen that coming. No one asked Killer to take his mask off, absolutely no one.

"No" the blonde replied.

"You have to" Nojiko pressed. Sanji and Zoro both tensed, ready to jump between them if things started to look like they could turn ugly.

"Forget it!" Killer yelled. He stood up and left the place with heavy steps. Kidd, not wanting to stay alone with the idiots, left after his friend.

"…did I go too far?" Nojiko asked after she heard the front door slam shut.

"Don´t take it personally" Usopp said "That guy just _never _takes his mask off"

"So true" Margaret said "I´m not sure if even Kidd has seen his face"

"But why does he cover it?" Nami put in. Everyone just shrugged.

"Why don´t you spin the bottle again, Nojiko-san?" Sanji said. Nojiko nodded. She spun the bottle and this time it ended up pointing Coby. The said pink haired nerd sighed and his blond friend started to laugh.

"Truth or dare?" Nojiko asked with a smirk.

"Truth?" Coby half said, half asked.

Nojiko smirked, but before she could say anything Margaret yelled: "I know a good one!"

"Go ahead and tell" Nojiko said with a smirk. Coby gulped; this wasn´t good. In his opinion Margaret was a sadist. She enjoyed making people embarrassed. But of course this was just his opinion. Margaret went closer to Nojiko and whispered her idea to her. When the older woman smirked Coby knew he was doomed.

"Tell us your biggest secret" Nojiko said, making the other guys laugh.

"What the hell´s that supposed to be?" Kohza asked with a laugh.

"How do we know he´s really telling his biggest secret anyway?" Zoro added.

"Shut up; it was a good one" Margaret said, crossing her arms.

"Don´t worry; I know what it is so I´ll tell you if he´s lying" Luffy said with a laugh.

"You told him but not me?" Helmeppo asked, offended. Coby ignored him and mumbled: "Luffy-san, you promised not to tell anyone"

"I won´t _tell _anyone; I just say if you´re lying" Luffy corrected.

"Sounds good" Nojiko said.

"Just spit it out Coby; it can´t be that embarrassing" Zoro said. Coby was still unsure, but he didn´t want the others to think he was chickening out so he spoke: "My dream…"

Coby´s silent start is interrupted by Kohza saying: "Is to be a ballerina?"

Almost everyone laughed at this or the fact that Coby´s face went deep red. The only ones not laughing were Luffy and Zoro who hit Kohza over the head.

"Sorry sorry" Nojiko said from between her laughs "Please continue"

Coby seemed to hesitate again, but continued as Zoro covered Kohza´s mouth.

"Ever since I was little my dream has been… to found my own school" when nobody commented Coby continued: "I´ve always studied hard for that and because of that I have always been bullied and called a nerd"

When he said the word "nerd" his eyes landed first on Helmeppo, then Kohza and Margaret. The said three looked away, feeling slightly guilty.

"At some points I was even about to forget that dream, but…"

"But what?" Sanji asked, but Coby shook his head.

"I already told my biggest secret; I don´t need to continue" the pink haired nerd said.

"He has a point" Vivi said.

"How boring" Nami complained, taking a gulp from her drink. She was already sounding pretty drunk "Spin the bottle, Nerd!"

"Nami!" Vivi yelled.

"Don´t mind her; she´s always like that when she drinks" Nojiko told "She´s not actually drunk yet tough"

"Damn right, it takes much more than this to get me drunk!" Nami yelled "Now spin the bottle!"

Coby did as was told and the bottle ended up pointing Zoro.

"Truth or dare?" Luffy asked him while laughing like a crazy.

"Dare" was Zoro´s reply. It´s not like Coby could or actually would come up with anything too embarrassing.

"Hey Coby, let me let me! I know a good one!" Luffy yelled.

"Okay" Coby said. Zoro shrugged, he didn´t care. After all Luffy wouldn´t be able to come up with anything too ba-

"Hey Zoro, go and call to that childhood crush of yours!" Luffy yelled, making Zoro freeze as everyone was looking at him.

"Interesting" Margaret said with a smirk.

"I didn´t even know the Marimo had a childhood crush" Sanji admitted.

"How the hell do you even know about that?" Zoro barked at his longtime friend.

"Makino told me" Luffy said bluntly "Oh, but she did say not to tell anyone!"

"She promised not to tell anyone, especially not to you, you damn bigmouth!" Zoro hissed as he got up.

"Where are you going?" Margaret asked.

"To make the call" Zoro mumbled "And I swear I´ll slaughter anyone who even tries to eavesdrop!"

When Zoro was out of the room Usopp asked: "Doesn´t the fact that he still has that girl´s number mean something?"

"You mean he still likes her?" Chopper asked.

"Most likely" Sanji said. After about five minutes Zoro came back and Sanji couldn´t help but ask: "Is she hot?"

Zoro blinked, asking: "Who?"

Luffy laughed as Sanji said: "That crush of yours, idiot"

Zoro was about to say something, but then he shut his mouth, blushing.

"It´s none of your business" he mumbled, sitting down.

"Hey Zoro, do we know her?" Usopp asked.

"How old is she?" Chopper asked.

"I bet he likes older women" Kohza replied to Chopper.

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled, finally getting enough.

"Did you confess?" Kohza asked, making Zoro go redder.

"I bet he didn´t have the courage to" Sanji said.

"I said shut up!" everyone laughed again. Nami got up, walking over to Zoro. She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned closer, asking: "So who´s hotter; me or her?"

The others, minus Luffy, were so busy laughing that they didn´t notice that Zoro wasn´t embarrassed, more like irritated.

"Get off" Zoro hissed, pushing Nami away maybe a bit too roughly.

"That´s not a way to treat a lady, Marimo!" Sanji hissed.

"Calm down" Nojiko said "He´s only trying to be faithful to his girlfriend"

The others laughed, but Zoro decided to swallow his anger and said: "Don´t bother, that damn man whore doesn´t know what faithful means"

The air in the room seemed to grow colder as the two men glared at each other.

"Umm Zoro-san, maybe you should spin the bottle" Vivi said, trying to stop the fight that was probably coming before it even started. Zoro rolled his eyes and spun the bottle. It ended up pointing Nami, whose face lost its drunken look immediately.

"Truth or dare, sis?" Nojiko asked.

"Truth" Nami said.

"What is the most important thing in your life?" Zoro asked. Before Nami could say anything Kohza commented: "I bet it´s money"

"Kohza!" Vivi hissed.

"For your information: it´s not" Nami said to him.

"Oh yeah? Then what is it?" Kohza asked.

"My dream" was her simple reply.

"And that is?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don´t need to tell you that one" she said.

"But we want to know!" Luffy protested.

"Yeah!" Usopp and Chopper chimed in.

"I don´t care" Nami said, crossing her arms.

"They won´t leave you alone before you talk" Zoro said with a smirk.

"So true" Kohza agreed. Nami looked at them and then the three idiots who were staring at her.

"Fine" she said finally, giving in.

"Yosh!" Luffy said, giving a high five to Zoro who was rolling his eyes. Then they turned to Nami, waiting for her to start.

"Well as you probably know there are many places in this world that no one has been to and places that nobody has returned from" Nami started "I want to chance that. I want to travel to these places and draw a map of what I saw!"

There was a silence as everyone stared at Nami. Soon Zoro´s gaze moved from Nami to Luffy who was grinning like an idiot. The green haired man chuckled, knowing all too well what his friend was thinking.

"So you want to explore the unknown parts of the world like that one man who died because of a weird decease 22 years ago?" Helmeppo asked. Nami nodded.

"What was that man´s name again?" Nojiko asked, putting her hand under her chin.

"I know!" Luffy suddenly yelled "Dol D. Roger!"

**A.N:** **Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N: I just noticed that in the end of the fifth chapter I wrote "Dol D. Roger" instead of "Gol D. Roger"… why didn´t anyone say anything!**

**Chapter 6: Gol D. Roger**

"Yeah, that´s what it was" Nojiko agreed.

"I´ve heard of him too" Chopper said "It is said that no one knows exactly what the illness was that killed him, but it is said to have infected and killed most of his companions as well"

"Yeah" Nami confirmed "It´s strange though; unlike Roger himself there is no information about the funerals or even death days of his comrades"

"Maybe their bodies' just weren´t found?" Usopp suggested "They did travel around the world so much; maybe they just simply weren´t found?"

"Don´t think about it too much" Nojiko said with a sigh "Nami just brings this up every time she can; it´s her obsession"

"No it´s not!" Nami protested but was ignored by the others who pointed at Luffy saying: "Here´s another one"

"But the mystery behind the fate of Roger´s friends is interesting" Luffy said "And you guys can´t deny it!"

"Uhhuh, sure" Margaret said, rolling her eyes. She and Luffy started arguing about it and the others decided that now was a good time to end the game. One by one they left the ring, going to do something else.

"I don´t think you bring him up that often" Vivi said to Nami as they sat at the table with Nojiko and Kohza.

"Yes she does" Nojiko said "But she had left that subject for a surprisingly long time"

"Well she just dug her own grave" Kohza said, taking a sip from his mug.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked. Kohza rolled his eyes and pointed at Luffy who was still on the floor arguing with Margaret.

"He used to go on and on about Gol D. Roger" Kohza said "And thanks to you he´s probably going to start it again"

"Do you know why?" Nojiko asked. Vivi shrugged, saying: "All I know that his dream has been to find the "City in a Single Piece" ever since he was a child"

"What´s that?" Nojiko asked and was answered by Nami: "It is said that it was a city that Roger found, but that he died before he was able to tell anyone the exact location or drawing a map"

"But didn´t his friends know anything either?" Nojiko asked.

"They probably died before being able to give the information" Kohza said.

"Not exactly" Zoro said from behind him, finally being noticed by the others.

"What do you mean?"

"It is said that only Roger visited the city, his friends staying behind" Zoro explained.

"Where did you hear that?" Nami asked. Even though she had investigated Roger and his group for years she didn´t remember hearing something like that.

"From Luffy" Zoro said "He didn´t tell where he heard it from though so it´s probably false information"

"Probably, he´s not very bright" Kohza agreed.

"Kohza that´s rude!" Vivi hissed.

"And true" Zoro said.

"Well he doesn´t seem really the smartest person around" Nojiko said, glancing at the young man still on the floor.

"Trust me; he isn´t" the other four said, waving their hands.

"But he´s still a good guy" Vivi told, feeling the need to defend her friend.

"Yeah; no one's easier to fool than him" Kohza agreed, for a different reason though. The other three laughed as Vivi started to scold Kohza for being so rude. The party went on with loud music, dancing, beer, food, talking and broken plates. It was already really late when Nami and Nojiko left, the only quests that were still present were Kohza and Vivi.

"Come again!" Luffy yelled from the window to the departing sisters.

"I doubt that" Kohza said, attempting to take bottle of alcohol but was stopped by Vivi who snatched the bottle away.

"No way; you´ve already drank too much!" she hissed, shaking her finger.

"No I haven´t; I´m not even visibly drunk yet!" Kohza protested "Besides I didn´t drink even half of the amount Zoro did!"

"Hey! Don´t pull me into your fights!" Zoro hissed.

"But he´s right you know" Usopp said, shaking awake sleeping Chopper.

"You stay out of this" Zoro said, taking another mug of alcohol.

"Oi, the party over already?" Franky yelled from the front door, coming in.

"Yeah; it´s shitty 3 am!" Sanji, who was washing dishes, yelled back from the kitchen. Franky laughed as he walked to the living room.

"So the party was SUUPER?" he asked as he threw his pants in to the corner. Vivi blushed, immediately turning her head away.

"Pervert" Kohza muttered.

"Thanks" Franky replied.

"It wasn´t a compliment!" the others yelled. Franky ignored them, as usual.

"Looks like two fell asleep already" he said.

"Two?" Kohza asked and looked at the direction Franky was pointing at. Luffy had fallen asleep under the window.

"That idiot" Zoro muttered, going to wake up the younger boy with no results "Great, he´s deep a sleep"

"Why am I not surprised?" asked Sanji who came to the room, finally having finished the dishes "Oi Luffy, wake up!"

"It´s no use; Zoro already tried" Usopp said "I think I´m going to bed"

"Yeah, me too" Chopper agreed.

"I suppose I should get this idiot to his room" Zoro said to himself, throwing Luffy over his shoulder "´Night"

"I suppose we should leave too" Vivi said and Kohza stood up "Yeah, probably"

"It was nice that you could visit us Vivi-chan" Sanji said, going to the love mode "See you again soon!"

"Idiot" Kohza muttered. Sanji glared at him but couldn´t do anything since Vivi was standing between them.

"We´ll see you in Monday at school" Vivi said, pushing Kohza out of the door "Good night"

"'Night!" Franky and Sanji yelled. After that they too went to sleep.

XXXXX

Monday came and everyone returned to the school; some more willingly than the others.

"School suuucks…" Luffy complained as he sat down in his first class.

"We know" Usopp and Kohza replied with sighs.

"Still having a hangover?" Nami asked as she walked to her seat.

"Of course not" Kohza said "You?"

"I don´t get hangovers" she said proudly, making Kohza roll his eyes.

"What class do we have now?" Luffy asked suddenly making Nami sweat drop.

"History" she replied, making Kohza bang his head in the table "Damn"

"I don´t get it; why do you hate her so much?" Luffy asked, making Nami blink. Hate who?

"I just do!" Kohza hissed just before the beautiful history teacher entered the room.

**A.N: And the plot thickens! I just noticed that Kohza is having a big part in this; much bigger than I originally planned. And the relationship between Nami and Luffy haven´t really even started yet (but should start soon; this is still a LuNa fic.) And of course there will be other pairings too, like KayaXUsopp that has already been mentioned. If you think that I descript things too little then tell me, I´ll (try to) change that. If someone wants some certain characters to be shown more or have someone new appear, tell me, I´ll see what I can do (but don´t say Ace; I already know when he´ll appear.) And please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N: Fast update, neh? It took me about three days…**

**Chapter 7: What does the teacher know?**

It was a lunch break, and Luffy was starving as usual. He sat next to Zoro, who was surprisingly the first one under the tree, and started to eat.

"Ooh the Marimo is already here" Sanji said as he came together with Usopp and Chopper.

"You actually noticed?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why you-"

"Where´s Vivi?" Usopp asked from Chopper, loud enough for Sanji to hear.

"Yeah, where´s Vivi-chan?" he asked.

"She had to stay and help the teacher"

"Great, so I´m surrounded by idiots" Sanji muttered, sitting down.

"The feeling is mutual" Kohza said as he arrived together with Nami.

"Ah, Nami-san! You´re eating with us today?" Sanji asked, completely ignoring Kohza´s comment.

"That´s what I was planning" Nami said, thinking: _"But maybe I shouldn´t do that after all"_

"That´s great!" Sanji said with hearts in his eyes "Please come sit next to me"

"I wouldn´t do that if I were you" Kohza advised Nami, making her look at him with confused face.

"Careful Ero cook or you´ll scare her away again" Zoro added with a smirk. A tick mark appeared to Nami´s forehead. Were they making fun of her?

"Shut up, Marimo! How could _I _scare away such a delicate flower?" Sanji hissed. A delicate flower? That's it!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Will you three just shut up!" Nami yelled, first punching Kohza on the head and after that Zoro and Sanji.

"Hahaha, you guys got your asses kicked!" Luffy laughed, making Nami glare at him. Chopper shrieked in fear, running to hide behind Usopp, the only other guy in the group that hadn´t gotten Nami´s wrath.

BAM!

Nami also hit Luffy in the head and turned to Usopp and Chopper.

"We haven´t done anything!" they screamed in fear. Nami sighed, took her lunch and sat under the tree without saying a word.

"What the hell was that for?" Kohza yelled, finally recovering from the shock.

"What?" Nami asked, glaring at him angrily. Kohza was about to say something, but Usopp quickly covered his mouth "Don´t annoy her!"

Everyone was silent a bit longer, but then it changed in to a normal lunch: Sanji flirting with Nami, Kohza and Zoro making fun of him, Luffy eating and laughing. Usopp made sure to sit farther away from Nami for safety reasons and Chopper was sitting next to him. Yep, normal lunch.

XXXXX

Nami and the others had geography again and she kept looking at the clock, wanting the lesson to be over already. She was so bored; these things were taught long time ago, at least to her. She felt her eyelids shut, about to drift to sleep.

"…and in the East of Grand Line is a country called Arabasta. Now, what is its capital?" Shanks asked. A silence followed.

"Don´t tell me none of you know?" Shanks asked, irritated.

"These things were already taught in the middle school" one of the guys commented.

"That´s right; so what´s the answer?" when Shanks didn´t get an answer he said: "Though so"

Shanks shook his head; these guys were hopeless.

"This is what happens when you don´t read the things you´ve once learned; you forget them!" Shanks said, shaking his head.

"What about you Kohza?" Luffy asked, getting the whole class´ attention.

"Yeah, you should know; you lived in Arabasta!" Usopp said.

"Yeah, in the capital" Kohza confirmed "Alubarna"

A vein popped on Shanks´ head.

"If you knew then why didn´t you say anything?" he asked. He would have crossed his arms but that was impossible with only one arm. Kohza shrugged, answering: "Didn´t feel like it- OW!"

He yelped as the chalk Shanks had thrown hit him on the forehead. The whole class laughed.

"So, is anyone willing to tell me something else about Arabasta?" Shanks asked, adding: "But not you Kohza"

Kohza just shrugged; it was fine with him. He looked at the class that had, once again, gone silent.

"So nobody knows?" Shanks asked "Maybe I should keep a little test about our neighbor countries next time"

The whole class started to mumble in frustration.

"Why don´t you ask from the sleeping beauty?" one of the guys asked, pointing the now sleeping Nami. Shanks was annoyed. _Nobody _slept in his lessons… except Zoro but he slept anywhere anyway. He picked up another chalk and threw it at Nami´s head, waking her up.

"Had a nice nap?" he asked, making the whole class laugh. Nami blushed, muttering: "I´m sorry; I don´t usually fall asleep in the class"

Shanks ignored it and said: "Then maybe _you _are willing to tell us something about the country of Arabasta?"

Kohza hold in his laugh and the other gave Nami sympathetic glances; being in Shanks´ bad side was something no one wanted.

"Uuh… of course" Nami said "It´s capital is Alubarna, and it´s a big country with hot temperature and a lot of sand. This is said to be caused by some natural disaster about eight hundred years ago. Not too far away from Alubarna, maybe about three hundred kilometers, is another important town, Rainbase. However getting there from the capital isn´t that easy since there is about fifty kilometers wide Sandora River between them."

The whole class was silent. Kohza and Shanks were the most shocked ones, both of them knowing that it was all true.

"Yeah, that´s right" Shanks said, sweat dropping. When he heard the whole class sigh in relief he added: "But I´m still keeping the test!"

Some looked down and some muttered curses.

"If you just hadn´t fallen asleep" the boy behind Nami hissed, but she decided to ignore it. The lesson went on and Shanks was soon back to his cheerful self and thanks to Nami´s intelligence the same thing didn´t repeat itself. When the class was over Nami asked: "What test was the teacher talking about?"

"Basic geography that was already taught in middle school" Kohza told "Surely you don´t have any problems with that one do you, sleeping beauty?"

Nami glared at him, saying: "For your information I don´t fall asleep in class often; this time was an exception" when Kohza raised an eyebrow she continued: "And geography happens to be my best subject"

"That´s good to hear, because most of this class sucks at it" said Shanks who was still in the class.

"Especially that guy" Kohza said, pointing at Luffy.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, making the last people in the class laugh. As their group of four left, Nami remembered something.

"Hey Luffy, can I ask you something?" she said. The raven haired teen turned to look at her and said: "Yeah, sure"

"Where did you hear the theory that Gol D. Roger´s friends didn´t go to the lost city with him?" she asked. It had been pothering her ever since she heard the theory from Zoro at the party, but didn´t have a chance to ask earlier.

"Oh damn, why did you ask that? Now he won´t shut up for the rest of the day!" Usopp said with a groan before Luffy could answer. Nami ignored him, waiting for Luffy´s answer.

"Oh that" Luffy said "I heard it years ago from Shanks" he paused and added "But I think he was a bit drunk then"

The others sweat dropped.

"See? It´s nothing to think about" Usopp said, trying to get them drop the topic. Nami stopped, looking back at the classroom. She knew that the teacher was still there, maybe…

"Don´t even think about it" Kohza said "Like Luffy said, the teacher was drunk"

"And he´s not the most believable guy anyway" Usopp added.

"Agues so" Nami muttered, making them sigh in relief.

"But you won´t lose anything if you ask" Luffy said, making Kohza and Usopp glare at him.

"That´s true!" Nami said, her face brightening. Luffy laughed as she turned around to go back to the class.

"Are you guys coming too?" he asked, but the other two shook their heads. Luffy shrugged and went after Nami to the class.

"Did you forget something?" Shanks asked as he saw his students.

"No, I… um…" Nami muttered, trying to find the right words. Now that she thought about it this _did_ seem stupid. There was even a possibility that Shanks didn´t remember saying it to Luffy since he had been drunk and it was long ago.

"_Well it´s too late to turn back now" _she thought. Luffy, getting bored because of the silence, decided to help the navigator out: "We want to know where did you come up with that theory about Gol D. Roger´s companions"

Nami wasn´t sure if she should thank or hit her friend, so she settled on doing nothing.

"Which theory?" Shanks asked "I have told you many, haven´t I?"

Luffy thought for a moment before remembering: "The one where only Gol D. Roger visited the city"

"Oh, _that_" Shanks said with a laugh. Nami didn´t like what she was hearing; she was positive that he had just made it up without any reason.

"It was just a theory I came up with; but it doesn´t sound like it´d be true" the redhead said, sitting down. Nami blinked.

"What do you mean?" Shanks didn´t answer, instead turned his gaze to Luffy.

"It´s not like him to leave his friends behind" Luffy muttered, looking at Shanks for confirmation "Right?"

Shanks smiled, nodding.

Nami was silent; something really pothered her. Could it actually be that the red-haired teacher had known Gol D. Roger? That´s what it sounded like and it was possible; he _had _been an adventurer after all.

"Could it be…?" she muttered "Teacher Shanks, did you know him? Gol D. Roger I mean"

Luffy looked at her in surprise, and then at smirking Shanks. The red-haired teacher however, didn´t answer. Instead he took something from the drawer of his desk and threw it to Nami who barely caught it. It was a piece of paper which she unfolded, noticing that it had an address on it.

"If you want to know something then that´s the place" Shanks said, picking up his stuff and standing up. Before he left the class he said: "And you two better hurry; Ben is going to be angry if you two go late to his lesson"

XXXXX

In Ben´s lesson, which was P.E, Nami found it hard to focus. All she could think about was the address Shanks had given her. Who or what was there and where was it?

"Miss Nami… Miss Nami!" Ben´s yelling finally caught Nami´s, who was just staring at the punching back, attention.

"Yes?" she asked, looking at the tall teacher.

"You´re supposed to bunch it; not stare at it" he said. Nami blushed as she heard the other students snickering.

"Something wrong?"

"No, not at all" Nami said, shaking her head "I´m just a bit tired that´s all"

"I bet you are; people don´t usually fall asleep in class!" one of the guys, the same one who sat behind her in the last lesson, yelled. Nami fought the urge to hit the teacher as he too laughed.

"Try not to fall asleep here" he said as he went to give advices to someone else. Nami sighed, starting to beat the punching back, imagining it was the teacher.

XXXXX

"Hey, Nami!" Luffy yelled, catching up with her together with Usopp just before she left the school grounds.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Are you okay? You were spacing out in every lesson" Luffy asked. Nami was a bit annoyed and was about to ask "What? Were you watching me or something?" but decided against it because the guy was so weird that he actually might have done just that and if he did she didn´t want to know more.

"I´m fine; just a bit tired" she told. It wasn´t a lie actually; she didn´t get much sleep last night and that´s why she had fallen asleep in class, but in P.E the address she had gotten from Shanks had been bothering her.

"That´s good to hear" Luffy said with a grin, obviously believing her. Before he was able to leave Nami called after him without a second thought: "Luffy"

Luffy turned to face her and she knew she needed to think fast for something to say or she would look like a complete idiot.

"Thanks for earlier" she mentally kicked herself right after saying it, doubting that the idiot knew what she was talking about. To her surprise he did.

"Don´t worry about it" he said "At least _someone _knows what´s actually interesting"

"Why are you looking at me?" Usopp asked as they both stared at him, Nami having followed Luffy´s gaze. She ignored him, saying: "Right… well if you ever need help with anything you know who you can ask from"

Luffy titled his head to side, asking: "Who?"

"Me, you idiot!" Nami yelled, hitting him on the head. It was just a reflex; the guy got on her nerves. But she was definitely not going to apologize.

"Oh yeah" Luffy said with an idiotic laugh, rubbing his head.

"Idiot" both Nami and Usopp muttered. Luffy ignored them, saying: "Well we´ll see you tomorrow"

"Yeah, see ya" Nami said, leaving the school grounds. That boy was so weird; it made her feel uncomfortable. She took the address Shanks had given her out of her pocket, looking at it once again.

_Sabaody Archipelago; Grove 13; Shakky´s Rip-off Bar_

"_I´m starting to believe Kohza´s words about the teacher being a drunk" _she thought with a chuckle. Sabaody Archipelago… it was actually a country near to a place called Red Line. And behind Red Line started the area where people didn´t normally go, except for adventurers and scientists. That place was her goal; to make a map about those areas.

"_But that has to wait a couple of years more" _she thought, putting the address to a place in her back where she definitely wouldn´t lose it. She was pulled out of her thoughts when her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket, looking who was calling.

Arlong

Nami frowned; what did he want now? He had called her last night and she had made a mistake of answering and hadn´t been able to hang up in many hours. And after she had there had been so many things in her head that she hadn´t been able to fall asleep.

"_Well I´ve never been the kind of person who does the same mistake twice" _she thought, shutting the phone and headed home.

**A.N: And the plot thickens! Again… Nami´s true nature, the violent one, has been shown. It´s supposed to prove that she´s starting to be more comfortable around Luffy´s gang. Anyway, please review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Helping with geography**

The next morning Nami was walking to school together with Nojiko when Zoro and Luffy caught up with them.

"Hey Nami, wait up!" Luffy yelled, making her hold back a sigh. What did that idiot want now?

"I´ll go ahead" Nojiko said. Before Nami could protest she noticed that her sister was already gone. And the green head, Zoro if she remembered right, was too.

"What?" she asked, trying not to sound too rude but to make her annoyance still known. Didn´t work.

"Yesterday you said I could ask you if I need help, right?" Luffy asked. Oh damn, she shouldn´t have said anything at all! But since it was yesterday she couldn´t say she didn´t remember saying anything like that, not to mention his friend had been there to prove the conversation.

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked, hoping that what he had in mind would be something easy and not take too much time.

"I was thinking if you could help me with my geography homework" Luffy said "Since you´re good at it and, like Shanks said, I suck"

Nami blinked, wondering if she should agree to it or not. Well it couldn´t be so hard so why not?

"Sure" she said, just then realizing why he had asked so soon "So I take it that you need help with studying to the upcoming test?"

Luffy grinned, saying: "Looks like I was caught"

Nami sighed, thinking that she was surrounded by idiots.

"Now let´s go; I don´t want to be late from Mr. Roux´s lesson" Nami said, starting to walk again.

"I love Lucky´s lessons!" Luffy cheered, going after Nami who sighed. This was definitely going to be a long day.

XXXXX

At lunch everyone, excluding Luffy and Nami, glanced at Zoro nervously every another second.

"What?" the swordsman asked, finally getting enough of them.

"Are you okay Zoro?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn´t I be?" he asked, annoyed.

"You´re _reading _in the _lunch break!" _Margaret yelled. They all knew Zoro hated reading, so seeing him with a piece of paper, especially in the lunch break, was weird.

"What´s so weird about it?" Nami asked.

"Zoro _never _reads anything voluntarily!" the others yelled, making Zoro roll his eyes "Don´t make so much noise about it" he said.

"So what is it?" Chopper, who was sitting next to Zoro asked and tried to peek "A letter?"

Before Zoro could answer Sanji said: "Oh? A love letter?"

"No you idiot!" Zoro yelled, his face red "Just an ordinary letter"

"It´s from Sabo, right?" Luffy asked, finally looking up from his lunch.

"How did you know?" Zoro asked, folding the letter that he had already finished reading.

"What else would you read voluntarily in _lunch break?" _Luffy said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Zoro chuckled, saying: "You have a point"

"Who is this Sabo anyway?" Kohza asked.

"My big brother" Luffy answered without missing a beat. The next sight was comical; some of his friends spit the food they had been eating as others had their jaws hanging open.

"You have an older brother?" Nami asked, also surprised but not understanding why it was so big deal to everyone.

"Yeah"

Usopp slapped his forehead.

"Why, in all these years, you never told us?" he demanded.

"And why did the Marimo know but we didn´t?" Sanji asked.

"Zoro lived near us when we were kids, so we often played together" Luffy said with a laugh, deciding to ignore Usopp´s question "The four of us always got in to trouble"

"Four?" Vivi questioned.

"Luffy has two older brothers" Zoro explained "And just so you know; those three got in to way much more trouble than I did"

"And yet he has never told us anything about them" Usopp said with a sigh.

"So Luffy" Margaret said, getting his attention "Are your brothers handsome?"

Zoro bit back a sigh as Kohza lectured Margaret that she shouldn´t asks a guy if his brothers are handsome and Margaret argued back. Everyone´s attention returned to Luffy as he stood up and left without a word.

"What´s up with him?" Nami asked.

"Who knows" Usopp said with a shrug, but a bit worried. That wasn´t like Luffy at all.

"Don´t talk about his brothers anymore if he doesn´t start it" Zoro said suddenly, causing everyone to look at him "It´s a sore subject"

"Why?" Sanji asked.

"That´s for me to know and you to find out" Zoro replied, standing up and leaving. The others stared after him before returning to their lunches.

XXXXX

When Nami left her last class she noticed Luffy standing in the doorway, probably waiting for her.

"Do you have your geography book with you?" Luffy asked, his usual cheerfulness gone from his tone.

"_Looks like the mentioning of his brother really bothers him" _Nami thought "Yeah"

"Good" he said, starting to walk "I was thinking we´d use the library, if you don´t have anything in mind?"

Nami blinked; having hard time believing this was the same guy from last week. Looks like bad mood made him serious, more tolerable and, she had to admit, a bit scary. It was hard to say which side was better.

"No, I don´t" she said "The library is fine"

They spent a couple of hours in the library and Nami found out that Luffy wasn´t kidding when he said he sucked at geography; he was terrible! The only things he seemed to remember about the neighbor countries were their climates.

"_Well agues that´s good for something, too" _Nami thought with a sigh as they were finishing. One thing had surprised her positively though; Luffy had been consecrating amazingly well compared to what she had thought he would. It was good tough since it was already Tuesday and the test was on Thursday. Still, she knew Luffy wouldn´t pass with the information he now had.

"Should we do this again tomorrow?" Nami asked "I mean just for sure…" she didn´t know why she had said that, she just did. She had already helped him like she promised, and that should be enough, right?

"Sure; that would be a great help" well, too late now since he already agreed.

XXXXX

The next day at lunch Nami had gotten worried; Luffy had acted like he usually did, in other words like an idiot. She wondered if he even remembered that he was supposed to meet her in the library after school. And now she was there, in the library, waiting for him. She hoped that he´d come soon and at the same time she hoped he wouldn´t come at all… she seriously didn´t know what was wrong with her.

"Nami! Did you wait long?" Luffy called loudly as he noticed her, earning angry looks from other students. Nami sighed; this wasn´t starting well.

"No, I just came" Nami said, having only been waiting about five minutes. They sat down and started, and Nami was surprised how little Luffy remembered from yesterday. How could someone be so stupid? And on top of that he wasn´t focusing at all.

"_Maybe I should get him on bad mood again?" _Nami thought, but dismissed the idea. She wasn´t _that _cruel. …okay maybe she was, but not today.

"What is the name of the Sakura Kingdom´s king?" Nami asked. Sakura Kingdom, a Kingdom next to Grand Line, was unnaturally cold place. Just like in Arabasta´s case it is said to have been caused by a natural disaster, but no one knew for sure.

"You mean the Ox guy?" Nami fought the urge to face palm. The king, Dolton, was said to have fought in the civil war like a furious ox, which probably caused the nick name "Ox guy."

"Yeah, him" Nami said with a sigh "Do you at least remember _why _he is called "Ox?""

"Because he fought like an ox in the civil war against that old king" Luffy replied without missing a beat. Nami blinked; this was something she didn´t expect him to remember, many people didn´t. The civil war had ended only a couple of years ago and before that the name had been Drum Kingdom and it´s king had been one named Wapol.

"What? Was I wrong?" Luffy asked after Nami had just stared at him for a moment.

"No" Nami said finally "But how come you remember thing like _that?"_

"The king is an old friend of dad´s" Luffy said, but after that clamped his hands over his mouth "I should _not _have said that; please forget it"

"Lu-"

"And back to the studying!" he yelled, picking up the book and started whistling. Nami blinked, being sure that he didn´t want to talk about it. However, he said his father knew the king… or was it a joke? She sighed; she could try to fool the information out of him later. Right now she had to teach a certain idiot.

XXXXX

The next day they had the test. Nami smirked as she saw the paper; she had been able to predict almost everything that was on it. She didn´t know teacher Shanks´ ways, but she did knew what teachers usually put in tests like these.

"_I knew there´d be many questions of Sakura Kingdom" _she thought with a chuckle. These things were usually in history tests, but the changes didn´t happen long ago so they were often mentioned in other tests and subjects, too.

"_Even that idiot Luffy should remember something"_ Nami thought, her mind returning to their conversation the day before. Did his father really know the king?

"_Ugh, of course not, it had to be a joke!" _she thought, shaking her head slightly. She had to focus on the test now.

**A.N: I know Luffy was a bit OOC, but it´s for the plot and besides, he **_**is **_**serious sometimes. Anyway, review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Tickets**

The next Monday they had geography again, and for once Luffy was sure he had passed the test. Well he was always a bit too sure of himself, but this time he actually had a reason to be. In his opinion the test had went well; Nami had really helped him a lot. The class was full of chit chat, but when the door opened and Shanks came in everyone fell quiet, going to their seats. Shanks walked to his desk without a word, throwing the checked tests on the table.

"You know, I saw something weird yesterday" he started, making the whole class gulp "Everyone actually passed the test!"

For a moment there was a silence, and then half of the class cheered.

"Even Luffy?" Kohza asked.

"Hey!" said boy yelled angrily. Shanks laughed at them.

"As weird as it sounds, yes he did" Shanks said, making the whole class laugh.

"What´s so weird about it!" Luffy protested, but was ignored by Shanks.

"Alright kids, time to start working" Shanks said.

"Can´t we take it easy today since everyone passed the test?" Usopp asked, but one look from Shanks told him the answer.

"Nope, now back to work"

XXXXX

"Wait a second Luffy" Shanks said after the class before Luffy could step out.

"What?" Luffy asked, turning around "I passed didn´t I?"

Shanks laughed "Yes, you did. Barely, but still" he said "And what I want to know is how you did it?"

"What do you mean by that?" Luffy asked, crossing his arms "Don´t you have any faith in me?"

"Nope"

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, making Shanks laugh.

"So, how did you do it?" he asks again.

"I got some help before the test" Luffy said, telling Shanks everything. After that he took off, hurrying to his next class.

XXXXX

At lunch break Chopper hid behind Zoro as he saw Nami stomping angrily towards them.

"What´s wrong?" Kaya asks as Nami sits down next to Vivi.

"I´m so going to kill that idiot" the orange head mutters, opening her lunch box. Usopp gulps, inching closer to Sanji.

"What idiot?" Vivi asked.

"Let me guess" Kohza says, pointing at Luffy who was coming towards them "That idiot?"

Nami nods, waiting for Luffy to sit down. When he does she stands up and walks over to him, hitting him on the top of his head.

"Ow!" he yells "What was that for, Nami?"

"You just had to tell the teacher didn´t you?" she asked angrily "Now he wants me to help you and the other idiots in the class even more!"

"Really?" Luffy asked, earning another punch when he said: "That´s great!"

"It´s not great; I have better things to do than help idiots with geography!" Nami yelled.

"So _that´s _how he passed the test!" Usopp said, finally understanding.

"Well this does explain it" Kohza agreed "But I have no idea how the hell you were able to make him listen"

"Time of miracles isn´t over" Sanji put in.

"Yeah" the others agreed.

"Shut up; I have passed before, too!" Luffy yelled, making everyone laugh. Luffy pouted, but dropped the subject as he remembered that it was the lunch break now.

"Food!" he cheered, opening his lunch box.

"Took him a while to realize" Zoro said, turning his attention to Kohza who was rolling his eyes "What?"

"Don´t look, but Hancock keeps looking at us with a smug look on her face" Kohza said "Does anyone have any idea what she´s up to?"

Margaret let out a sigh, getting everyone´s attention.

"You know something about that, Margaret?" Zoro asked. Margaret muttered something, but so quietly that no one heard.

"What?" Luffy asked.

"Well yesterday we went to buy tickets to Portgas´ concert" Kaya started to explain, making Luffy tsk "But they were sold out"

"And what does Hancock has to do with it?" Usopp asked.

"She has the tickets for herself and her sisters, and not just that" Margaret tells, keeping a small break "She even has extra tickets that she sells to her friends with higher price, but she refuses to sell any to us"

"But is it really that important?" Vivi asked "I mean it´s just one concert-"

"It´s not just a concert!" Margaret yells, cutting her off "It´s the farewell concert; the last one there´ll be!"

"It´s still a concert" Usopp said, but shut up as Margaret glared at him.

"He´s right Margaret; what are you so angry about?" Kohza asked.

"If you want I can sing for you, Margaret-chan!" Sanji volunteered cheerfully, getting hit by Margaret.

"It´s not the same at all, idiot!" she yelled.

"Margaret is just upset; she´s never been in his concert and now he´ll never have a chance to" Kaya explained.

"It´s her own fault for never going to one" said Hancock who came to them, with her sisters of course.

"Everyone doesn´t have money like trash" Margaret shot back.

"That´s your own fault for not working hard enough" Sander Sonja said, earning a laugh from Zoro "What´s so funny?"

"Is living with daddy´s money hard work?" he asked, making his friends laugh too. However, the Boa sisters weren´t so happy.

"What do _you _know about anything?" Hancock spat.

"I don´t" Zoro replied "And I don´t care to know either"

The others chuckled at Hancock´s face.

"Whatever" she said "I´ll show you Portgas´ autograph after the concert, Margaret"

"What´s the point?" Kohza asked "He´s coming to this school three days after the concert anyway; getting his autograph wouldn´t be hard"

"That´s true" Hancock said "I´ve already told the principal that I can help Portgas to get used to the school"

"And try to get in to his pants as a side job?" Margaret asked, making some of the guys chuckle. Hancock´s face went deep red.

"Margaret, you shouldn´t have said it out loud; let people see the obvious by themselves" Kohza said, making Zoro and Margaret laugh.

"If he´d had to spend time with you he´d ran away screaming because of your ugly face" Hancock told to Margaret.

"And if he´d had to spend time with you he´d ran away laughing because of your stupidity" Luffy shot back for Margaret making everyone, especially Zoro, look at him in surprise. The swordsman had been sure Luffy wouldn´t take part to a conversation that had something to do with his brother. Hancock gritted her teeth.

"And how would _you _know anything?" She asked.

"I just do" Luffy replied, taking something from his pocket and handing it to Margaret "Here"

Margate blinked, taking what Luffy was offering. She blinked again, looking at the item. It couldn´t be, it couldn´t… but it was!

"How did you get this?" Margaret whispered, holding a VIP ticket to Ace´s concert.

"I have connections" Luffy said with a shrug and a goofy grin. Everyone was speechless, wondering how he did it. Zoro knew the answer of course; Ace had personally sent them both VIP tickets. He wasn´t going to say that though.

"How the hell did you get that!" the Boa sisters yelled. Hancock´s hands were shaking.

"_How the hell indeed" _Nami thought, Luffy´s words in library last week returning to her mind. Surely that didn´t have anything to do with this, but it was still a surprise and this made her wonder if his words were true, too.

"Are you deaf or something?" Luffy asked "I already said I have connections"

"Luffy" Margaret said "Are you really… giving this to me?"

"Of course; I´m not interested" he said.

"Thank you!" Margaret yelled, hugging him "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Whatever, get off of me!" Luffy yelled back, trying to get the blonde off of him as the others laughed. Margaret laughed too but got off like she was told to, glancing at Hancock who was glaring at them angrily.

"Don´t think that you´ve won!" Hancock yelled and after that left with her sisters while the others continued laughing.

"That should teach her" Kohza said.

"Hey Luffy" Usopp said, getting Luffy´s attention "Tell us where you _actually _got it from?"

"Doesn´t matter" Luffy said, his cheerfulness gone as he crossed his arms.

"But this is great; now you can go to the concert Margaret" Kaya said.

"Oh yeah, sorry Kaya; I know you wanted to go too…" Margaret said, but Kaya just smiled to her sadly.

"It´s okay Margaret; just enjoy the concert" Kaya replied.

"Don´t be sad Kaya" Usopp said, putting his arm around her shoulders "You have me"

"Is that supposed to make her feel better?" Kohza said, making the others laugh.

"You´re just jealous" Usopp told him, but the blonde just rolled his eyes.

"So you wanted to go too, huh, Kaya?" Zoro asked and Usopp made a "ssh!" sound so that they could chance the topic.

"Well yeah, but it´s not that important" she said. Zoro smirked, saying: "Then you don´t want this?"

Kaya looked up, seeing Zoro holding a ticket to the concert. And a VIP ticket on top of that.

"How did you-?"

"I have connections" Zoro said, deciding not to tell anything since Luffy didn´t either.

"C´mon guys, that´s not fair. Tell us!" Chopper asked, really wanting to know.

"Nope" Luffy said, standing up and leaving the scene. He had had enough of this conversation. Zoro sighed, deciding to go after his best friend. He´d need it now.

XXXXX

It took Zoro a while to find Luffy, thanks to his nonexistent sense of direction. He found him from his next classroom, sitting at his desk and looking out of the window.

"Luffy" Zoro called "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I´m fine" he answered, not looking at Zoro who sighed. He walked to him and sat on the desk in front of him.

"When are you going to forgive him?" he asked, getting straight to the point. He was pretty sure he was the only one who knew the whole story, or at least most of it, about why Luffy had abandoned Ace. Ace, Sabo and even Makino had tried to ask him, but he had only answered that he couldn´t say. He wasn´t going to do that to Luffy.

"When I feel like it" Luffy said. Zoro was about to protest but stopped when he saw the smirk that was forming to Luffy´s lips "Hey Zoro"

"Yeah?"

"Imagine Ace´s face when Margaret and Kaya step in instead of us" Zoro blinked, and then burst out laughing.

"Oh shit" he said "That would be worth seeing!"

They both laughed for a while before Zoro said: "But seriously Luffy, you need to move on and forgive him; he´s your brother after all"

"It´s not like we´re blood related or anything" Luffy said and got whacked by Zoro "What was that for!"

"That´s not like you at all"

"…"

"…Luffy…"

"What…?"

"Is there something more about this that I don´t know?" Zoro asked. He had suspected it for a while, but now he got the best chance to ask. Luffy sighed.

"When-"

Luffy had no chance to continue because the door burst open and Usopp came in, arguing with Kohza. Soon the rest of the class and Yasopp came too.

"Okay guys, everyone to your seats" the teacher said "Zoro? Did you get lost again? This isn´t your classroom you know…"

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled with a red face as everyone laughed. He got up and left for his own class. If he was late again Ms. Gram was going to kill him!

As the lesson started someone´s eyes were on Luffy. Little did he know that this person had heard their whole conversation.

**A.N: Just** **so you know: Gram isn´t an OC, she´s a real OP character. If you remember who she is then it should be obvious what she teaches. Oh, and just so you guys know: I don´t hate Hancock (I don´t really like her either), but every school fic needs an annoying bitch who thinks she´s the most important person in the world. I just thought that Hancock would be the best one for that role since I didn´t want to use OCs. Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Concert**

Two weeks passed and it was time for Ace´s farewell concert. Luffy had locked himself in to his room, refusing to come out to watch the concert from the TV. Zoro had given up a while ago and was now on the living room with Chopper, waiting for the concert to start.

"Are you seriously going to watch that Marimo?" Sanji asked, but got no answer. He was worried; both Luffy and Zoro had been acting weirdly the past week. And it was definitely not like Zoro to watch something like that; the only things he watched from TV were some stupid swordsman things!

"Do you think we´ll see Margaret and Kaya in the audience?" Chopper asked from Zoro, getting Sanji´s attention, too.

"Maybe" Zoro said "And keep your eyes open for Robin, too"

"Robin-swaaan!" Sanji yelled, running to the sofa and sitting next to Chopper.

"You think she´ll be there?" Chopper asked, making Zoro nod "Most likely"

"Why would she be there, Marimo?" Sanji asked, but got ignored again. The blonde sighed; Zoro was definitely hiding something.

"Ma-"

"It´s starting!" Chopper cheered. Sanji sighed, starting to watch the concert. He´d ask later.

XXXXX

Ace sat down on the sofa behind the stage, sighing. The concert had gone well and he had ended it with his favorite song, Memories, but that was not the problem now.

"Something wrong Ace?" the freckle faced singer looked up to see his manager, Edward Newgate.

"I gave VIP tickets to… two of my friends, but I´m not sure if they´ll come" he said with a sigh "We´ve had our fights lately"

"Is that who those two were? Your quests?" asked Marco, the drummer, who just arrived.

"You mean they came?" Ace asked, standing up "Can you sent to the VIP rooms in fifteen minutes so I can change?"

"Why? You look good" Marco said, laughing as Ace glared at him. He knew Ace didn´t like the outfits he was made to wear; like the punk rocker outfit he had now.

"_Luffy´s gonna die laughing if he sees me in this… and Zoro too" _Ace thought. He knew Luffy didn´t like waiting, but he _would not _let his little brother see him in this outfit.

XXXXX

Margaret was so excited that she couldn´t stay still even for a small moment. She was trying to make a good impression on Ace, so she had dressed in her best: black miniskirt, black boots with high heels and a bit too revealing white top, which in the right light was see through. Kaya had a much simpler outfit: light yellow dress and yellow coat, her shoes being white high heels. They looked so different but still good.

"This so weird; I still can´t believe we´re meeting _the _Ace!" Margaret giggled to her friend. Kaya just smiled, thinking it would be rude to remind Margaret that they would have met him at school anyway.

XXXXX

"So Luffy is coming?" Robin asked from Ace who had taken a quick shower and was now drying his hair on the couch in the VIP room. He was wearing simple light brown shorts and a yellow t-shirt that wasn´t buttoned. He likes loose and simple clothes; there was no use in denying it.

"Yeah; I only sent VIP tickets to him and Zoro, it can´t be anyone else" Ace told.

"Are you sure about that?" Robin asked, adjusting her purple cow boy hat that matched with her purple skirt and corset top. High, purple boots finalized the outfit. She had a mature, perfect body, and no one would have believed she was already on her late twenties.

"What do you mean?"Ace asked.

"You sure Luffy ain´t coming with a girlfriend?" asks Sabo, Ace´s brother who just came in. He had long blond hair that was tied in a ponytail. He was wearing the same punk styled outfit as his brother did not long before, just to annoy him. Ace burst out laughing.

"_Luffy _having a girlfriend?" he asked, amused "The old geezer has an affair with Shanks before that happens!"

Robin and Sabo sweat dropped; _that _was a bit too much.

"Maybe we should start with saying that _you _will have a girlfriend before that happens, shouldn´t we Ace?" Robin asked with a knowing smile, making Ace blush. Despite his career he had never dated.

"Don´t pick on him Robin, you know full well why" Sabo said with a chuckle.

"Shut up; both of you" Ace hissed, crossing his arms. They laughed.

"We must go now; Kuma-san is already waiting for us" Robin said.

"You go ahead" Sabo said "I´ll catch up in a minute"

Robin nodded, realizing that the brothers needed to talk about something. When she was out of the room Sabo asked: "Is Luffy still angry at you?"

Ace sighed.

"Yeah" he confirmed "I don't get it; he said he was okay with it"

"Well it´s Luffy we´re talking about; we might even be wrong about why he´s so angry"

"But can you say any other reason why he would be angry?" Ace asked.

"No" Sabo said, shaking his head "If you really want to know then try asking Zoro"

"Can´t you try to make him talk?" Ace asked, grinning as Sabo gave him a death glare.

"You _do _remember what happened last time I tried that, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, you-"

"No need to say it out loud!" Sabo hissed, making Ace laugh.

"Anyway" the star said "You did get the information out of him back then"

"Yeah, but that had nothing to do with Luffy" Sabo said "Zoro would _never _brake a promise, especially not to him"

"You´re right" Ace said. For a moment they were quiet before Sabo spoke: "I should probably go now; Robin and Kuma are waiting already"

"Yeah, have fun" Ace said. When his brother was already at the door he added: "And Sabo"

"Yeah?"

"Don´t get her pregnant" Ace said, dodging the pillow that was aimed for his face only a second later.

"Fuck you, Ace" Sabo said, slamming the door behind him. Ace laughed, looking at the clock. It would still take five minutes before Marco brought Zoro and Luffy.

XXXXX

Margaret´s night wasn´t starting as well as she had hoped. Just a moment ago they saw a hot, young woman leaving the VIP room. The woman had looked at the oddly when she saw them and then just walked away.

"Maybe she was his sister?" Kaya suggested, trying to cheer up her friend.

"I doubt that; people would know if a famous singer had a hot older sister" Margaret said with a sigh, raising her head as she heard the door to Ace´s room open.

"Fuck you, Ace" they heard a blonde man say before he shut the door. When he noticed them he walked over to them, asking: "Are you two supposed to be here?"

Margaret was offended by that.

"Yes we are; we have the VIP tickets" she said with a smirk.

"To Ace´s room?" Sabo asked, suspicious. There was no way… when the girls nodded a thought came to him and he asked: "Did you, by any chance, get the tickets from guys named Luffy and Zoro?"

"Yeah" Margaret said "Do you know them?"

Sabo had hard time holding his laughter. Those two had actually given their tickets to two _girls?_

"_They´re _so_ doing this to annoy Ace" _he thought, coughing a little so that he wouldn´t laugh.

"Yes; Luffyis my younger brother" Sabo told, making Margaret blink.

"So you´re Sabo?" Kaya asked, remembering the conversation in the lunch break a way back.

"He mentioned me?" Sabo asked, making sure he wouldn´t say Ace´s name. Luffy´s friends didn´t know about Ace; that much he was sure of.

"Yes, a while back" Kaya said.

"What´re you doing here?" Margaret asked.

"I work here" Sabo said without missing a beat; he knew they´d ask that, so he had prepared a lie so that Luffy wouldn´t be angry.

"Hey Ace!" he shouted "Your quests are already here; I´m sending them in!"

Sabo had hard time holding his laughter as he heard Ace yell: "Okay"

"You two better get going" Sabo said with a chuckle and took off. The girls looked after him for a moment before shrugging and going towards the door. Kaya knocked.

"Come in" Ace called, not understanding why they bothered to knock. His expression was full of shock and disbelief when two young girls entered the room instead of his little brother and his old friend. For a moment the three of them only stared at each other before Kaya broke the silence: "Umm, are we in the right place? I mean we have the VIP-tickets and we were told to come here…"

"Huh? Yeah you are; I was just… expecting someone else" Ace muttered awkwardly.

"Two guys around our age; the other one having dark and the other green hair?" Margaret asked. She was starting to understand how they got the tickets; Luffy´s brother was in good terms with Ace.

"Yeah, those two" Ace confirmed "You two friends of theirs?"

"Yeah, we´re in the same school" Margaret said.

"I see" Ace said, pausing "Umm…"

"Oh, sorry" Margaret said "I´m Margaret, and this is my friend Kaya"

"Nice to meet you" Ace said. That was a lie; he was so going to kill his brother and the damn swordsman when he got his hands on them! They had gone too far this time.

XXXXX

Margaret and Kaya´s visit last about an hour, and after they left Ace were exhausted. They were nice, in a way, but Margaret was clearly a typical fan girl… well not the type to scream all the time, but you get the point.

"_I know Luffy´s angry at me, but this went a bit too far!" _Ace thought, deciding to call Zoro since Luffy wouldn´t answer his call anyway.

XXXXX

"Hello?" Zoro said, picking up his shell phone.

"_You have some explaining to do" _Ace said from the other end of the line. Zoro sighed; he had seen this coming. But he couldn´t fight the smile that came to his face.

"What, you didn´t like the girls?" he asked with a chuckle.

"_Very funny Zoro" _

"Sorry, but just so you know it was Luffy´s idea" Zoro told, knowing that Ace must have guessed it anyway "I wouldn´t have done it my own; I know your fears after all…"

"_Shut up!" _Ace yelled, making Zoro laugh.

"Sorry sorry" he said "Anyway, Ace, there is something I need to warn you about"

**A.N: If someone was waiting a bigger scene between Ace, Margaret and Kaya then sorry, didn´t happen. It was just so damn hard to write that I skipped it. However, I really enjoyed writing the scene between Ace, Sabo and Robin. Naturally those two will appear later too, but it´s probably gonna take a while. Anyway, review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N: Sorry for the long wait!**

**Chapter 11: Ordinary Saturday**

Usopp sighed; he was tired of listening how Margaret and even Kaya went on and on about Ace. He would have had better ways to spend his Saturday afternoon than sitting in a café listening about some brainless pop star.

"He was so much different than I always thought!" Margaret told.

"An idiot?" Usopp asked.

"Usopp-san!" Kaya scolded.

"Yeah yeah, sorry" the long nose said, sighing.

"He was so incredibly ordinary" Margaret said with a dreamy look on her face.

"Told you he´s nothing special" Usopp said.

"Oh yes he is!" Margaret protested "Just not the way we thought he was!"

"Can´t we talk about something else?" Usopp asked, but the girls ignored him.

"He did seem a bit nervous, tough" Kaya said, making Margaret nod in agreement.

"Maybe he´s just a sissy"

"Usopp-san!" Kaya scolded.

"Who´re you to talk?" Margaret asked. Usopp tsked.

"Whatever; I´m going home" Usopp said, adding a lie "I promised Chopper to help him with his math homework"

Kaya knew Usopp was lying; Chopper didn´t need help with math. However, she didn´t say anything as Usopp left their table.

XXXXX

"I´m home" Usopp called as he opened the door.

"Welcome back, Usopp bro" Franky said "Had a nice date?"

"It wasn´t a date; Margaret was there too" Usopp told, making Franky raise an eyebrow "Threesome?"

Franky laughed as Usopp glared at him.

"Where´s Luffy?" the long nose asked, trying to change the subject.

"In his room with that orange haired chick, doing what I have no idea" Franky replied.

"_With Nami?" _Usopp thought "Okay, thanks"

"Usopp you´re home!" Chopper cheered as he saw the long nose "How was your date?"

"Not you too…" Usopp whined "What are Luffy and Nami doing?"

"She´s helping Luffy with his geography homework" Chopper replied "Luffy really needs help, according to her and Shanks"

"How can Luffy afford her help?" Usopp thought out aloud, making Chopper look at him with confusion.

"She made everyone, me included, pay for her help" Usopp explained "And believe me; her taxes were high. There´s no way Luffy could afford them!"

Chopper shrugged, saying: "Maybe Luffy´s helping her with something?"

"Name even one subject where Luffy´s good at" Usopp said. Chopper thought for a moment before saying: "P.E?"

"Doesn´t count" Usopp said "Are you sure she´s helping him with homework?"

Chopper nodded, asking: "What else could they be doing?"

"Nothing" Usopp said with a sigh. He _was not _going to be the one to explain Chopper about those things.

XXXXX

Nami sighed; teaching this idiot was hard. She didn´t even really have motivation since she was doing this for free… she wasn´t trying to be helpful tough, she had her own reasons for doing this. She had heard Luffy and Zoro´s conversation earlier in the class and knew Portgas D. Ace was Luffy´s older brother. That´s when she had made a plan, but the fact that Ace and Luffy weren´t in good terms made things harder. She was planning on getting in Luffy´s good side, help him and Ace to make up, which reminded her that she still needed to find out why they were fighting, and then with Luffy´s help to get information about different countries all over the world from Ace. Sure getting information was easy these days because of the internet, but information from someone who had experience was always better. And she knew Ace had been in many places for his concerts; she had looked that up.

"Nami? You okay?" Luffy asked suddenly, causing Nami to look at him.

"Yeah" she said "Why?"

"You were just staring at the wall" Luffy replied "It´s not gonna run away even if you don´t look at it, you know"

"I know that, idiot!" Nami yelled, hitting the boy on the head. Maybe this wasn´t so good idea after all…

XXXXX

Kohza was doing homework with Vivi in her room when he got a text message.

"Who is it from?" Vivi asked, looking up.

"Let´s see" Kohza said, taking his phone out and smiling as he read the message.

"Is it from Law?" Vivi asked. Kohza nodded with a smile, showing the message to Vivi.

"Meet me at Raftell´s yard in your lunch break Monday afternoon" Vivi read aloud, raising an eyebrow "Why is he coming to see you in to the school?"

"I don´t know; he has never done that" Kohza said, still smiling. Trafalgar Law was few years older than Kohza and was studying in college to become a doctor. He was dark, calm and sadistic, but he and the blonde had one thing in common: they were both in the closet. They had been dating about three months, and the only one who knew was Vivi. She had caught Kohza and Law in action one day, so it was pretty hard to keep it as a secret anymore… well anyway, going off topic.

"Are you two still in the closet?" Vivi asked suddenly.

"Yes we are and we´re not coming out anytime soon" Kohza said "So please, don´t say anything to anyone about me and Law"

"Of course not" Vivi said "You´ll tell the others when you´re ready"

"I hope they know how to knock" Kohza mumbled, making Vivi blush.

"I didn´t do it on purpose" the girl mumbled, depressed.

"Yeah, I know"

**A.N: Short one, I know. I suppose this could be called some kind of filler since I originally planned that Ace would go to school in this chapter, but then I got these ideas… and Law is finally here! He was supposed to be in the party, but I kind of forgot. Hehe, sorry. And in case someone forgot, Raftell is their school. By the way, have I told which year Margaret and Kaya are in? Anyway, review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: First Day Is Always Worst Day**

Ace sighed as he walked towards the principal's office, trying to get there as unnoticed as possible. No luck on that part tough; there were whispers and giggles from the girls all around and jealous looks from the guys. He was used to it of course, but now he really hoped he would have Marco or anyone with him, he wasn´t used to getting all the attention when he was alone.

"_Oh c´mon Ace, be a man!" _he told to himself. He loved attention and fame, sure, but he was bad with people, especially with girls, and freaked out if they came too close. He just hoped he´d get to the old geezer in time, because if he didn´t he´d be killed.

"Ace?" he heard suddenly and stopped, seeing Shanks walking towards him.

"Shanks? Long time no see!" Ace said, relieved to see a familiar face.

"Long time indeed" the redhead said "Going to Garp´s office?"

"Yeah" Ace said "Hopefully I find it in time or the geezer´s gonna kill me"

"I can take you there" Shanks said "But just to the door; he doesn´t like seeing me"

"Yeah, I know" Ace said with a laugh as Shanks lead him in to principal´s office.

"Is Luffy still angry at you?" Shanks asked suddenly, destroying the last pieces of Ace´s good mood.

"Yeah" Ace mumbled with a sigh.

"Have you tried to talk to him?" Shanks asked. Ace nodded, saying: "Many times"

The problem was that Luffy never listened and even tried to avoid him. How was he supposed to clear things out if he didn´t even find the guy? Well, now he had more chances since they were in the same school.

"We´re here" Shanks said suddenly.

"Thanks" Ace said.

"No problem Ace, don´t get yourself killed" Shanks said before leaving. Ace laughed before knocking on to the door.

"What?" came Garp´s voice from inside. Ace sighed, walking in.

"Oh, Ace! You´re early!" Garp said with a bright smile, pointing at a chair in front of his desk "Sit down!"

Ace sat down, hoping that this would be over quickly.

"Where´s your hat?" Garp asked, talking about Ace´s orange cowboy hat which he had gotten as a birthday gift from Luffy when he turned fifteen.

"I left it at home; I don´t think the teachers would like it" Ace said, knowing that Shanks wouldn´t mind but not being sure about any of the others.

"Good choice" Garp commented "Did you move in to Dadan´s house again?"

"Yeah" Ace admitted "I would have enough money to buy my own place, but well… you know…" Ace muttered, a bit ashamed of himself.

"I know what you mean" Garp said "It´s your home after all"

"Yeah" Ace said, sweat dropping. He had meant to say that he couldn´t really cook or do laundry by himself, but he was not going to try to correct his grandfather. Well, not really _his _grandfather, Luffy´s grandfather. But Ace saw him as a grandfather too and so did Sabo. And the crazy old geezer always beat them up so badly that he clearly saw them as his grandsons, too.

"Come in" Garp said as he heard a knock on the door again. A beautiful, black haired woman stepped in.

"This is Boa Hancock" Garp told Ace "She will show you around the school since you two have most of the classes together"

"Nice to meet you" Ace lied. This was exactly the woman Zoro had warned him about, the very same selfish bitch. This was just his luck. He just hoped that she wasn´t as bad as Zoro had made him understand…

"Nice to meet you too" Hancock said.

"You two need to get to the class; the math lesson is about to start" Garp told "You two are dismissed"

And so they left the office. Hancock was telling Ace about something, but what he had no idea. He wasn´t listening. Luckily he did hear when she said: "We´re here"

"Thanks for the help" Ace said, remembering the manners taught to him by Makino.

"It was nothing" Hancock said, blushing. Nothing new in that for Ace. He scanned the whole class with his eyes, but didn´t find the guy he was looking for. Should he ask Hancock where he sat or just sit down and hope for the best? He glanced at the black haired woman who was still blushing and glancing at him from the corner of her eye every three seconds. Making up his mind Ace walked to a place in the back and sat down. Zoro had never been a man of the front row… well, at least not in school. Not long after Zoro came in to the class, arguing with a blonde haired man.

"Hey Zoro!" Ace yelled, getting the whole class´s attention. Luckily Yasopp hadn´t come yet. Zoro looked in his direction with surprise, but then a smile came to his face.

"Ace! Long time no see!" the green haired teen yelled, making everyone´s, even Sanji´s, jaws drop. Zoro walked over to the freckles faced singer, noticing that Hancock had taken the place on the other side of Ace.

"_No surprise there" _Zoro thought as he sat on the window seat next to Ace.

"How´ve you been?" Ace asked.

"Fine, doing the usual stuff" Zoro replied, ignoring a look from Sanji as the blonde sat in front of him, turning to face him to follow the conversation.

"Training, sleeping and being dragged along by Luffy?" Ace asked, knowing that Zoro didn´t put much effort in his grades.

"Yup" Zoro confirmed "And you? What´re you going to do now that you quit as a singer?"

"I don´t really have a plan" Ace said "I´ll just see what the future brings"

"Okay, everyone to your seats!" Yasopp yelled from the doorway. When he sat down at his desk he noticed Ace.

"Oh, hi Ace! Long time no see!" he yelled making everyone´s, excluding Zoro´s who just chuckled, jaws drop.

"Yeah" Ace said "I thought you had retired already, tough"

Zoro burst out laughing, but the others were too surprised to say anything.

"Very funny" Yasopp said "And shut it, Roronoa, we´re starting the lesson"

Zoro stopped laughing, but he still chuckled every once in a while.

XXXXX

"Hey Zoro" Ace said after the class was over "What do you have next?"

"History" Zoro said with a sigh.

"Me too" Ace said "Where´s the class?"

"Sorry, can´t show you. I need to talk with Luffy" Zoro said, smirking "But you´ll show him around, right Hancock?"

Ace made a face at Zoro as he said this, knowing that the swordsman was doing this on purpose.

"Of course, the principal asked me to do so" Hancock said, glaring at Zoro, who just laughed.

"Good for you" he said, standing up "Let´s go, Curly brow"

"Don´t call me that, Marimo" Sanji hissed but followed anyway.

XXXXX

When Zoro reached his locker with Sanji, which was next to Luffy´s, he saw Luffy, Kohza, Nami and even Margaret there. Usopp was nowhere in sight, so he was probably somewhere with Kaya.

"Why´s Margaret here?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow. The blonde was in the same year as Luffy and the others, but she usually hang around them only in the lunch breaks.

"Stupid question" she answered "Ace is in your class right? How was he?"

Zoro glanced at Luffy, but he was leaning against his locker with his hat over his eyes. No help from him.

"Ask the Marimo" Sanji said "The first thing the shitty pop star said was "Hey Zoro!" and the Marimo says "Ace! Long time no see!" Seriously Marimo, what the hell?"

Margaret´s eyes went wide and even Kohza seemed a bit interested, but surprisingly Nami was just telling something to Luffy, not paying him any attention.

"You know him?" Margaret asked, and Zoro couldn´t help but to roll his eyes.

"It´s no big deal; he´s just an old friend" Zoro said.

"No big deal?" Margaret asked "Zoro, he´s a star!"

"Really?" Zoro asked "I thought he was a human like us!"

"Very funny" Margaret said "Now tell us everything, like where you know him from and stuff"

"Maybe later at lunch break; I need to talk with Luffy" Zoro said, making the black haired boy finally look up.

"Can´t that wait?" Margaret asked.

"No, but you can and you will if you want to know something" Zoro told her, leaving with Luffy.

"What is it?" Luffy asked when he was sure that the others wouldn´t hear them.

"You want to keep your and Ace´s relationship as a secret, don´t you?" Zoro asked, pretty sure that he was right.

"Yeah" Luffy confirmed "Zoro, could you-"

"Yeah" Zoro said immediately "I´ll tell Ace to shut up about it"

Luffy smiled, Zoro knew him well.

"Thanks, Zoro" Luffy said.

"Let´s get to our classes; Ms. Gram is going to kill me with extra homework if I´m late again" Zoro told, making Luffy laugh.

"Yeah, let´s go"

XXXXX

In the lunch break Ace caught up with Luffy, but the younger one started to walk faster.

"Luffy, we need to talk" Ace said, trying not to be pothered by the looks sent at them.

"Leave me alone; I´m in hurry" Luffy said back, wanting to go eat with his friends.

"You could listen for once" Ace said, irritated as he took a hold of Luffy´s shoulder. The younger boy glanced at the others who were watching them, noticing some of his friends among them.

"Okay fine, but not here" Luffy said, dragging his brother along "C´mon"

Ace smiled; finally his little brother was ready to talk with him. They went in to an empty classroom and Luffy closed the door.

"Okay, what?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Could you finally explain why you´re so mad all the time? Why are you avoiding me?" Ace asked. Luffy glared at him, walking over to the opposite wall to look out of the window.

"Like you wouldn´t know" was the younger boy´s reply.

"But I don´t!" Ace argued "Or if it´s what I think it is it´s definitely stupid, but it can´t be that!"

Luffy actually sweat dropped at that.

"Then what do you think it´s about?" Luffy asked, facing Ace. Did his older brother really not get it? Or was he just playing dump?

"You´re mad about the songs aren´t you?"

"Huh?" Luffy asked.

"The songs I used; the ones we always sang as kids!" Ace said, getting closer "The ones that mostly _you _made words for!"

"You just don´t get it…" Luffy muttered.

"What do you mean I don´t get it?" Ace asked, taking a hold of his little brother´s shoulders "You said using them was okay!"

"And it was!" Luffy shot back "That´s not what this is about, you idiot!"

"Don´t call your big brother an idiot!" Ace hissed "And if it wasn´t about that then what!"

"If you´re really so stupid that you don´t get it then I won´t tell you!" Luffy yelled back, pushing Ace away.

"Listen, you-"Ace was interrupted when the door suddenly slammed open. The brothers turned to face the door, Luffy with wide eyes, realizing that someone had found out. And that someone was one of the worst possibilities.

"Nami…" Luffy said eyes wide. Why did it have to be her? Now she´d tell everyone! The orange head walked in, taking the younger boy´s wrist.

"Excuse us, we´re in hurry" she told Ace, slamming the door behind them as they left, leaving speechless Ace behind.

XXXXX

"How did you find us, Nami?" Luffy questioned as the woman dragged him along in the hallway.

"I and Kohza saw you with Portgas, so I started following you. Kohza didn´t come; he said he had promised to meet someone" Nami explained, ignoring the odd look she got as they passed her sister and Tashigi.

"How much did you hear of our conversation?" Luffy asked, hoping that she hadn´t found them right away.

"…everything" Nami said, and was slammed to a wall second later.

"What the hell?" she questioned, but fell silent when she saw the serious look on Luffy´s face.

"You can´t tell anyone, got it?" Luffy whispered. Nami nodded, having already realized it was a sore subject for some reason.

"If I wanted to tell anyone I would have done so already" Nami said, deciding to tell him now so that she wouldn´t mess up later.

"Huh?"

"I heard you and Zoro´s conversation in the class the day you gave the ticket to Margaret" Nami explained "I already knew"

"Why didn´t you tell me?" Luffy asked.

"I didn´t think it was necessary" Nami told, looking at her wrists that Luffy was still holding after pinning her to the wall "Can you let go now?"

Luffy blinked once, twice before realizing he was still holding Nami´s wrists.

"Oh, sorry" he said, letting go. Nami could swear she saw him blush, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"Let´s go eat lunch with the others!" Luffy said, starting to walk away "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I´ll come"

XXXXX

"Okay Zoro, now you´ve gotta tell us" Margaret said. She, Zoro, Kaya, Usopp, Chopper, Sanji and Vivi were sitting in their usual spot eating lunch. Margaret had told everyone what Sanji told her and now they were waiting for an explanation.

"There´s not much to tell" Zoro said "We were neighbors when we were younger, so of course we knew each other"

"Weren´t you and Luffy neighbors too?" Usopp asked.

"So Luffy knows him too?" Margaret realized.

"Yeah" Zoro confirmed with a sigh "But don´t mention Ace´s name in front of Luffy again; they don´t get along"

Zoro knew that he was probably already saying too much for Luffy´s liking, but if this shut them up it was worth it.

"Why?" Usopp asked.

"I don´t know" Zoro said. It wasn´t really a lie; he wasn´t sure "But do not mention him"

"But-"

"Shh!" Zoro hissed as he saw Nami and Luffy coming towards them "So, where were you two?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nowhere" Luffy answered, sitting next to him as Nami sat next to Vivi.

"Kohza´s not here yet?" Nami asked.

"No, he has… some things to take care of" Vivi said, getting everyone's attention.

"What things?" Luffy asked, opening his lunchbox.

"Well… umm…"

"None of your business" hissed Kohza who just arrived, sitting next to Chopper who happened to be the closest one with the direction he came from. He took out his lunch box and started to eat.

"Bad day?" Zoro asked and Kohza shot him a glare "Like I said, none of your business"

"No fair Kohza, tell us!" Luffy insisted.

"Why don´t you tell us what you were doing with Portgas?" Kohza shot back, silencing Luffy. Zoro bit back a groan of annoyance; here we go again.

"I think that guy´s a gay" Nami said, causing half of the group almost choke in to their drinks.

"What?" Zoro asked, having no idea where _that _came from. Ace had never had a girlfriend, he knew that, but he couldn´t be gay… or could he?

"Well I happened to walk in when he was talking with Luffy" Nami started, getting an alerting look from Luffy "And well… let´s just say his behavior wasn´t normal"

Luffy sighed in relief and Zoro chuckled, thinking that Nami had just gotten the wrong idea. Luffy however, knew she was doing this on purpose.

"…so you think he´s gay?" Vivi asked, sweat dropping. Zoro glanced at Luffy, who was laughing. Well, since Luffy went on with it he would too.

"Yeah, probably" Nami said, glancing at laughing Luffy.

"We should test the theory" Margaret decided, earning odd looks "What?"

"How would we do that?" Nami asked, not meaning it to go that far.

"Hmm… Usopp could flirt with him as a test" Margaret said, making the others laugh.

"Why me!" Usopp cried out, making the others laugh even harder.

"Bad idea Margaret" Kohza said "Even if Portgas was a gay, I doubt he would be attracted to Usopp"

"True" Zoro said and everyone laughed again.

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Usopp asked, crossing his arms. Even Kaya was laughing.

"So, who do you suggest then?" Margaret asked.

"The Curly Brow" Zoro said.

"I agree" Kohza said before Sanji could protest.

"Hold it, I´m not gonna do it" the blonde was finally able to protest, crossing his arms.

"Aaw c´mon Sanji, do it for me" Margaret said, going closer to Sanji and batting her eyelashes. For a moment the blonde man looked like he was about to give in, but then got himself back together.

"No" he said "I´m sorry, Margaret-chan, but that´s one thing I´ll never do, not for anyone"

Everyone laughed again. While laughing, Zoro´s eyes met Nami´s, who winked. In that moment realization struck him.

"_She knows"_

XXXXX

Ace sighed. For some weird reason he had ended up eating with Hancock and her sisters… not his idea of a nice lunch. Some other girls had tried to come talk to him, but it looked like Hancock had scared them away. And other guys… well; all he got was jealous looks. He would have liked to go eat with Zoro and talk to him, but he knew Luffy wouldn´t have taken it well. Speaking of his little brother, Ace´s thoughts wandered to the woman who had interrupted them.

"_Maybe she´s Luffy´s girlfriend?" _Ace thought, chuckling at the idea _"No way"_

"Is something wrong, Portgas?" Mari Gold asked, using his last name since Hancock had said only she was allowed to call him Ace.

"No, not at all" Ace assured, glancing at the tree that Luffy and his friends were sitting under. He would have wanted to be there as well…

XXXXX

"Kohza wait!" Vivi yelled, catching up with the blonde as they were walking home from school.

"What is it Vivi?" Kohza asked from his friend, not looking at her.

"Are you okay? You´ve seemed to be down after the lunch…" Vivi asked, trying to be careful with her words "Did something happen between you and Law?"

"He broke up with me" Kohza said bitterly, causing Vivi to stop.

"Why?" the blue headed girl asked, but Kohza just shrugged.

"I don´t know; he just said things wouldn´t work out between us" he said "I think he already has someone else or at least has his eyes on someone else"

"…I´m sorry…"

"Don´t be" Kohza said, turning to her direction with a smile "I´ll find someone better"

XXXXX

"Stop laughing you guys!" Ace screamed to his foster mother Dadan and her friends. They had made him tell about his first day in school, obviously so that they´d get good laughs and that´s exactly what happened.

"You and your bad luck with women!" one of the guys laughed. Ace had told them everything, and in their opinion Hancock´s behavior was hilarious.

"Very funny guys"

"Luffy´s still not talking to you?" asked Magura, a man with a head like chicken´s. Ace shook his head.

"Not really" he said "We got in to an argument, but that can´t really be called talking, now can it?"

"Nope" Dadan said "Do you know why he´s so angry anyway? It´s honestly not like him at all"

"Well it wasn´t about the songs after all" Ace said "But I don´t know the real reason"

"So what are you going to do now?" Dogura, a really short man, asked. Ace shrugged, saying: "I guess I´ll just wait; it´s Luffy´s move now… unless I come up with something"

**A.N: So, is there anyone that I haven´t added to the story yet but you´d like me to add there? Or someone you´d like to see more? Even if there isn´t, review please!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A.N: Hello everyone! I got this chapter done on Saturday, but then I went to Estonia before I could reread and publish this… sorry. Anyway, Tallinn is a very beautiful city with really cheap food (and, according to my cousin, who was there with me, with a very bad tasting coffee.) It was my first time outside of my home country, Finland. I bought a lot of souvenirs and candy, and the later one was a pretty bad choice. We went to a zoo, and I have to say it was poorly made; most of the cages were too small for the animals and had other faults too! It was still a beautiful place tough… Of course we also went shopping and to the old town, not to mention the beautiful High Town… and there was a shop called "Sabo", I don´t know what it sold though. And many people spoke Finnish there; that was weird… so, has anyone of my readers ever been in Tallinn?**

**Warning: Bad gay jokes**

**Chapter 13: Narcolepsy**

Zoro _hated _Tuesdays… well, there wasn´t anything new in that, he hated all school days. Especially Tuesdays, since in those hellish days they had domestic science. That in itself wouldn´t have been so bad if they wouldn´t include cooking… cooking where the bastard cook was naturally always the best, not that Zoro would ever say it out loud.

"Ready for domestic science, Marimo?" Sanji asked with a smirk as they got to the class.

"Shut up" Zoro muttered, knowing way too well that this was the one subject he had no chance in beating Sanji.

"So Marimo, who´s the unlucky person you were planning to team up with today?" Sanji asked. He and Zoro never teamed up with each other and every teacher knew not to team them up with each other if they wanted to avoid World War 3. Gram had done that once a year ago, and that was a nightmare all teachers hoped to forget.

"How about me?" Ace asked from behind them.

"Good timing" Zoro said, high fiving with the freckles faced man.

"Yep" Ace said, nodding in the direction of Hancock who was walking towards them "Thanks for saving my sanity"

"You mean what´s left of it" Zoro corrected, earning a playful punch to his shoulder.

"Ace, do you want to team up with me?" the black haired woman asked, blushing again.

"Sorry, I already promised to be Zoro´s partner" he said, going further in to the class with Zoro.

"I would be happy to be your partner, Hancock-swan!" Sanji said, a heart replacing his visible eye. Hancock was about to reject him rudely, like always, but then she stopped to think: Sanji was a good cook, this was domestic science, the saying "a way to man´s heart goes through his stomach" and the fact that Ace was a man… bingo.

"Fine" Hancock said, not paying any attention to the fact that Sanji was melting from happiness. She was a good cook, but she had to admit that Sanji was even better. And good food was just what she needed!

"Ace?" Zoro asked as he was trying to make the meat balls round. Lucky had told everyone to do whatever they wanted from the ingredients they had, so Zoro and Ace had agreed on something very simple: meat balls and smashed potatoes.

"Yeah?" the slightly older boy asked while peeling potatoes. He _hated _peeling potatoes!

"Did you tell anyone about you and Luffy?"

"No" Ace said "Has somebody said something?"

"Not really" Zoro said "But Nami definitely knows something"

"Nami?" Ace questioned "Who´s that?"

"She´s from Luffy´s class; the one with orange hair" Zoro told "Does it ring any bell?"

"Oh, her" Ace said, sweat dropping "She kind of heard me and Luffy when we argued"

"What?" Zoro asked "Oh shit…"

"Is she keeping her mouth shut?"

"Yeah" Zoro said "Actually Kohza, a friend of ours, saw you and Luffy too"

"Damn it"

"Yeah" Zoro said, moving to help Ace with the potatoes "Luckily Nami covered it up"

"How?"

"She said that it looked like you were harassing Luffy" Zoro told "In other words she made everyone believe you might be gay"

"She what?" Ace yelled, making the whole class look at them "Heh, sorry" he laughed nervously, glaring at Zoro who was chuckling.

"So, is there something between her and Luffy?" Ace asked quietly.

"I hope not" Zoro said.

"Why? Do you have your eyes on her?"

"No"

Ace paused to think, and then asked: "On Luffy?"

"No!" Zoro yelled angrily, getting the whole class´ attention again.

"Something wrong, Roronoa?" Lucky, the fat teacher, asked.

"No, not at all" Zoro said, returning his attention to the potatoes.

"So Zoro, back to the subject" Ace said "Why do you hope there´s nothing between them?"

"That bitch gets on my nerves" Zoro replied "So, what are you going to do about Luffy?"

"I´ll just leave him be… at least until I get another idea how to get him to my side"

XXXXX

Ace used to love lunch breaks, but that was changing fast since he had, once again, ended up eating with Hancock and her sisters. They were beautiful, yes, but that was the only good thing about them. Ace didn´t know which they were more; boring or annoying, but he did know that he´d have to get away.

"Excuse me for a moment" he said politely, pretending to go to bathroom as he was actually looking for a better place to eat.

"_I knew returning to school was a mistake… homeschooling while going around the world was much easier" _Ace thought _"Sabo was smart since he never went to high school"_

Sabo was the same age as Ace, but had stopped going to school after graduating from junior high school since he wanted to annoy his parents and Luffy´s father had offered him a job. However, Ace was sure the main reason why Sabo took the job was his huge crush for Dragon´s 26 year old secretary, Robin.

"_Not that I can blame him; she _is _hot…. too old for him tough" _Ace thought, chuckling. The woman was whole eight years older than them! Ace´s laugh was cut short when he started to feel dizzy.

"_Oh shit"_

XXXXX

"I´m telling you two; there´s something weird between Luffy and that Portgas guy" Kohza insisted as he walked in the almost empty hallway with Nami and Vivi to lunch.

"Ridiculous" Nami disagreed "Now let ´s go; the others are probably already waiting for us"

Vivi didn´t say anything; she just listened her friends´ arguing, wondering why they were so persistent. Did Nami have a crush on Luffy? Or on Ace?

"You´re the one who started this" Kohza said back, making Vivi wonder if he was the one with a crush. But on which one?

"It was a joke; you´re taking it too seriously" Nami tells with a sigh "Makes me wonder that _you _might be the gay one here"

Kohza froze in the spot, but recovered soon enough, catching up with the girls.

"Would a gay do this?" he asks, turning Nami around by taking a hold of her shoulders. Before the orange head could protest she felt the blonde´s lips on hers.

"Kohza!" Vivi yelled in surprise, not knowing why he went this far. Did he really want to stay in the closet so badly he couldn´t even take a joke?

"Jerk!" Nami yelled, pushing Kohza away when she recovered from surprise.

"Are you blushing Nami?" Kohza said with a laugh.

"No" Nami replied, crossing her arms. Kohza just laughed and went around a corner, stopping suddenly.

"What is it Kohza?" Vivi asked, coming next to the blonde man. He pointed ahead and the girls looked up, seeing someone lying on the floor.

"What happened?" Vivi asks, bringing her hand over to her mouth. Kohza is the first one to recover from the shock and goes over to the man, turning him on his back.

"It´s Portgas" Kohza said, shaking the older man "Hey, are you okay?"

When there was no answer, Vivi went over and knelt down next to Ace.

"Is he unconscious?" she asked.

"Looks like it" Kohza replied "Nami, go get help!"

"Right" the orange head said, taking off.

"Don´t try to move him; he might have hit his head" Kohza told to Vivi while checking Ace´s pulse.

"Is he alive?" Vivi asked, already thinking about the worst possible scenario.

"Yeah, and his pulse feels completely normal" Kohza said, making Vivi sigh in relief "But it would be risky to move him from here; let´s wait that Nami returns with help"

"Okay" Vivi said. For a while they sat in silence until she said: "Kohza?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you kiss Nami? Is staying in the closet so important to you?" Vivi asked, knowing well that her question might be a bit too personal for Kohza´s liking.

"Does it really matter?" Kohza asked. This was one of the things he didn´t want to talk about, not to anyone. He knew it was stupid; it wasn´t that big deal. But still…

"Yes it does" Vivi said "Kohza, I´m your friend. I want to help you"

"I know" Kohza said with a sigh "But the others…"

"They´d be just fine with it" Vivi insisted, having known them longer than Kohza had. She was sure no one would really mind, and to be honest she was wondering if Luffy and Chopper even knew what the word "gay" meant.

"I don´t think so" Kohza protested with a sigh.

"…do you have a crush on one of them?" Vivi asked, making Kohza go red. She was right.

"Is it Luffy?" she asked, deciding that she wouldn´t back down now despite the fact that Kohza might get angry. However, instead of getting angry Kohza made a disgusted face.

"I´m not in to goofy little idiots" he said. Luffy was a good friend, sure, but he would never think of him in a romantic way.

"Sorry" Vivi said "But then who?"

Kohza sighed, deciding that he might just tell her.

Meanwhile:

Nami was walking in the hallway, looking for teachers. She was already heading to principal´s office, but was hoping to find a teacher before going there. The principal was, in his own way, creepy. And of course it had to be Tuesday; the doctor was in their school only in Mondays and Fridays. Luckily, she spotted a familiar face coming out of the bathroom.

"Luffy!" she yelled, running over to the boy. He turned around, making Nami slow her pace a little. Was it her, or did he look like he had been crying?

"What?" he asked.

"It´s Portgas" Nami started, seeing how Luffy looked surprised at first but then narrowed his eyes "What about him?"

"We found him lying on the ground; he didn´t wake up" Nami explained.

"Why are you telling this to me? Go get a teacher or something" Luffy said, making Nami angry.

"Why do you sound like you don´t care? Luffy, he´s your brot-"before Nami could finish Luffy clamped his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Didn´t I tell you to shut up about that?" Luffy said, but Nami just glared at him. After a short while, which felt like an eternity to Nami, Luffy let her go.

"Aren´t you worried at all?" she asked.

"No, that happens to him a lot" Luffy said. When Nami didn´t look convinced he added: "Ace has a narcolepsy"

**A.N:** **About that kiss: sorry, it´s a little twist to the plot! But this is still LuNa (and I´m seriously considering NamiXKohza to be a side pairing in some other story of mine.) And I changed Robin in to a 26 year old since I didn´t want her and Sabo´s age difference be too big… anyway, again, is there someone you´d like to see more? Or someone who you´d like to see less? Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Misunderstandings**

Ace was wondering if he should open his eyes or not. He had already woken up when Kohza had tried his pulse, but pretended to be asleep. He knew they were Luffy´s friends, so he had thought he could find out something that would help him to make Luffy listen. So far there was no luck, but he did hear some interesting things. So this Kohza was a gay huh? Should he mention it to Luffy? He didn´t have anything against gays, but if one started to flirt with his little brother…

"_I´m worrying for nothing; he did say he has no interest in Luffy" _Ace thought, deciding to finally open his eyes.

"He´s awake" Vivi said, meeting the eyes of the older man "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I´m good" he says, sitting up.

"You shouldn´t get up yet" Kohza said "What happened to you anyway?"

"He has narcolepsy" explained Shanks who arrived with Nami, who had found him just after Luffy told about Ace´s narcolepsy. Naturally the Straw Hat himself was absent.

"What?" Kohza said in disbelief.

"I have narcolepsy" Ace said "And it seems like I forgot to take my medicine in the morning"

"So it seems" Shanks said "Honestly Ace, be more careful"

"Yeah yeah, sorry" Ace said, standing up and yawning. Shanks sighed.

"You need to be careful Ace, seriously" Shanks said "You could have hit your head"

"But I didn´t so everything´s fine" he said with a shrug.

"You sure? You should go home; I´ll tell your grandfather that-"

"No!" Ace interrupted "Don´t tell anything to that old geezer; I´m fine!"

"You sure? If something happens-"

"Anything won´t happen; I´m fine" Ace insisted. He and Shanks held a staring contest for a while before the older man sighed.

"Fine" he said "But you better take it easy for the rest of the day"

"Yeah yeah" Ace said, sighing in relief as the redhead left. Then he turned to the other three who had been watching them "Would it be too much to ask that you guys will shut up about this whole thing?"

"Of course" Vivi said, not being the gossip girl type of person.

"Sure" Kohza said "It´s not like it´s any of our business anyway"

Then they turned to Nami, whose face held a look that Vivi had learned to recognize over the years.

"Fine" she said "But you owe me"

Ace nodded thankfully, having no idea what he just got himself in to. Kohza on the other hand had his own doubts as he saw Vivi shaking her head, but was wise enough not to say anything.

XXXXX

"What took you guys so long?" Usopp asked as Vivi, Nami and Kohza got to their usual lunch spot.

"Well…" Vivi started unsurely, not knowing what to say since they had promised Ace to not say anything.

"The teacher started lecturing to Kohza for yelling in the hallways" Nami lied, earning a glare from Kohza and a nervous laugh from Vivi.

"That´s pathetic" Zoro said with a laugh.

"Did you have to?" Kohza hissed to Nami.

"Don´t worry Kohza; it happens to us all" Margaret said "Most of us doesn´t usually get lectured tough…"

"At least I don´t walk around the school half naked" Kohza shot back, talking about Margaret´s revealing clothes.

"Kohza!" Vivi scolded as the others laughed, either to Kohza´s comment or Margaret´s red face.

"You´re just jealous ´cause you´ve got nothing to show!" the blonde said, flicking Kohza´s forehead.

"How do you know Margaret? Have you taken a closer look?" Zoro asked, making Margaret go even redder and the others to laugh harder.

"Of course not!" she yells, her face as red as a tomato. Because of all this, only Nami was aware that a certain black haired boy was absent.

XXXXX

Luffy was sitting in the roof, not wanting to see or talk to anyone right now. Too many things were going around in his head, like the thing he had seen just moments ago. Why had they been kissing? He had been sure that Nami and Kohza were just friends, but he wasn´t so sure anymore. Kohza had even known her longer than the others, excluding Vivi of course. Was there already something between them when she came to their school? The biggest problem was that Luffy didn´t even know why it bothered him so much… he did admit that he might have a small crush on Nami, but that was definitely all there was. Was this what people called jealousy? Was this what Zoro had felt when he saw his long time crush kissing another person, someone who he had seen and still saw as a friend?

"I´m thinking too much…" Luffy muttered with a sigh.

"Well thinking´s never been your thing, has it Lu?" Luffy raised his head, only to see Ace leaning against the door "What´s wrong?"

"Go away Ace" Luffy said, not wanting to talk with his brother.

"No" the freckles faced teen said. They glared at each other for a while and Luffy stood up.

"Move" he said as he walked over to Ace, who moved away from the door. However, Luffy could not open it.

"Did you lock it?" he asked, turning to his smirking older brother.

"Yep" Ace said "Stole the key from the porter"

"Give it to me" Luffy said, but Ace shook his head.

"Ace, give it to me, _now_" Luffy said, gritting his teeth.

"No" Ace said and Luffy made up his mind, attacking his brother. The fight didn´t last long and it ended up with Luffy being on his stomach on the floor, his hands held back behind him and Ace sitting on his back.

"You never learn do you Lu?" the older one asked with a smile.

"Get off of me, Ace!" the younger one yelled.

"Only if you tell me what´s bothering you" Ace said.

"No"

"Then I´ll stay here" Ace said, taking out his lunch box from his bag, making Luffy realize that he hadn´t started eating yet at all.

"Let go Ace"

"Did you change your mind?" he asked.

"No"

"Then I´ll stay here"

"…" Luffy didn´t say anything as Ace ate a sandwich, still holding his arms in place. If Luffy was completely honest with himself, this was one of those times that he hoped that they weren´t fighting; he´d need some advice from his big brother now… damn it, why had his dad given Sabo a job? If he hadn´t the blonde might be there with them! And Luffy was sure he could have helped… But could Ace help him? Would he help him? Well, maybe he should give it a try…

"Ace?"

"Yeah?" he asked, noticing that Luffy´s tone had gone quieter.

"Have you ever had a crush?" Ace nearly choked in to his sandwich at the question. Say what?

"Where did that come from?" he asked, but when Luffy didn´t answer he added: "No, I don´t think I have"

Luffy sighed, but didn´t say anything anymore.

"Does my little brother have a crush?" Ace asked with a smirk.

"No" Luffy said, but Ace saw through the clear lie.

"Who is it?" he asked, but Luffy didn´t answer "Is it that Nami girl?"

"How did you know!" Luffy blurted out, banging his head against the floor afterwards. How could he be so stupid?

"Nami huh? Well can´t blame you; she´s pretty" Ace wondered out loud, earning a glare from Luffy "Don´t worry; she´s not my type"

"So, your sulking has something to do with her?" Ace asked.

"I´m not sulking" Luffy denied.

"Fine, you´re not sulking" Ace said "Now tell me what´s wrong"

Luffy didn´t answer, and he was surprised when Ace stood up, going to sit next to the wall, leaning on it.

"Surely you can tell your big brother, can´t you?" he said, continuing to eat his lunch. Luffy didn´t answer, just took out his lunch. Maybe he could beat Ace up and get the key after he had eaten? Or maybe he should just tell him? It´s not like he had anything to lose, knowing that Ace wouldn´t tell anyone. …except maybe to Sabo, but it´s not like that mattered.

"Well I…" Luffy started, unsure "I saw Nami and Kohza kissing and… I don´t know… it just annoyed me"

"In other words you´re jealous" Ace translated "So you think you fell for a taken woman?"

"Probably" Luffy said, finally starting to eat his lunch.

"Well I doubt that" Ace said, causing Luffy to look up at him "Why?"

"That Kohza guy is gay" Ace told, causing Luffy to stare at him blankly "What?"

"You´re not serious, are you?" Luffy asked.

"I am" Ace said "I heard him talking with that blue haired girl, and if I understood right Nami had made a joke about him being gay and he had panicked, kissing Nami to make her believe that he was straight. Oh, and he has his eyes on a friend of ours"

"Kohza likes Zoro?" Luffy asked in disbelief, making Ace nod "That´s what he said"

"So the kiss with Nami…"

"I don´t think it meant nothing to neither of them" Ace said "But who knows, that Nami girl might have a crush on Kohza"

"I don´t care as long as they´re not together" Luffy said, making Ace raise an eyebrow as he finished his sandwich, taking a sip from his drink.

"Say Lu, what do you see in her?" he asked, but Luffy just shrugged.

"I don´t know; I just-" Luffy said and froze. He was still supposed to be mad at Ace!

"You just what?" Ace asked, frowning when Luffy didn´t answer "Luffy?"

No answer

"Seriously Lu, we need to end this" Ace said "Why can´t you just tell me what made you so mad?"

No answer, just the sound of Luffy drinking.

"Lu, tell me. I won´t bother you after you´ve told me" Ace said, but that was only half true. He would try to fix things if he could…

"Fine" Luffy said with a sigh, thinking that they might otherwise be stuck on the roof for who knew how long.

"You remember that hat, the orange one with blue smiley on it, which I gave you for your fourteenth birthday, right?"

"Yeah, and?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why did you throw it away?"

"Huh?" Ace asked, surprised.

"Don´t you remember?" Luffy asked.

_Flashback:_

_Ace´s third concert had just ended, and Luffy had missed it just like he missed the second one. Zoro was supposed to come and get him for the concert, but he had overslept. Oh well, there would be more. He was let in to the backroom by Edward, Ace´s manager. Luffy thought he was an annoying old man, but tolerated him since Ace liked him so much. He sat on the couch, deciding to wait for Ace and his band. Those guys were fun in their own way, even though he didn´t know them so well. Marco and Ace seemed to have become really good friends almost like him and Zoro. He really liked the short woman Haruta; pulling pranks on Ace was much funnier with two people… he was the one who always got caught tough. Then there was this weird guy Izou who liked to dress like a girl, he didn´t really have anything to say about that guy. Then there was that boring guy Jozu, Zoro´s sparring partner Vista and for last, Thatch who talked more than drunken Yasopp. And in Luffy´s opinion that was a lot._

"_What´s taking them so long?" Luffy muttered, deciding to wander around the room, hoping to find something interesting. He was happy that Ace had found something he liked to do, but he was also a bit annoyed since now they didn´t really have much time to spent with each other. Ace had canceled many of their movie nights and other things they did together lately, but Luffy was trying to not let it bother. Ace was a singer; he was busy. However, Luffy still hoped they would have more time together._

"_What´s that?" Luffy wondered as he saw something orange in the trash can. He went closer and took it out, not believing his eyes. It was Ace´s hat, the one he had given him on his fourteenth birthday. Why had he thrown it away? He said it was important; just like the red rosary he got from Dadan and the sheath knife he got from Sabo. Why did he throw it away? _

_Luffy threw the hat back to the trash can, leaving the building. He could take his time in calming down and Ace could explain the next time they met. But he never did._

_Flashback ends._

"But the next time we saw each other you acted like nothing happened!" Luffy yelled, standing up "Why couldn´t you just say you had no time for me? That you no longer cared!"

Ace just stared; his brother sounded like a dumb teenage girl! It was all about the hat? And on top of it all, he hadn´t thrown it away!

_Flashback:_

_Ace sighed, rubbing his head. Where was his hat? He was sure he had left it on the table in the backroom like always, but it was nowhere in sight._

"_What´s wrong Ace?" Marco asked._

"_I can´t find my hat" Ace complained._

"_What are you, a girl? It´s just one hat" Thatch said with a laugh, earning a glare "Okay, which hat?"_

"_The orange one with two smiley faces on it" Ace told, making Marco chuckle._

"_That ridiculous thing?" the blonde asked._

"_I got it from Luffy" was all Ace said for his defense, but it shut Marco up._

"_I´ll help you look for it" Haruta said, having learned how important their hats were to the brothers. Weird, but she didn´t usually judge people. The others helped too, and after a while Thatch called out: "I think I found it!"_

_And indeed, he held out Ace´s orange hat that he had taken from the trash can next to a table._

"_Where was it?" Ace asked, taking the hat._

"_In the trash can" Thatch replied, making Ace glare at Haruta._

"_What´s with that look?" she asked "I didn´t throw it there!"_

"_Then who did?" Ace asked, crossing his arms._

"_Sorry" Jozu said._

"_It was you?" everyone yelled, not having been expecting that._

"_I think I accidentally dropped it when I walked past the table earlier" Jozu explained. And that´s how it had went._

_Flashback ends._

"Luffy, listen-"just then they heard the lock on the door click, and the porter stepped out.

"What are you two doing here? The bell rang five minutes ago!" he said "And how were you able to lock the door?"

"With this" Ace said, showing the key he had stolen from the cigar loving porter. The porter, Smoker, frowned, taking the key.

"Which one´s idea was this?"

"Mine" Ace said immediately, since Luffy had tried to leave from the beginning.

"Is that so?" Smoker said, not really convinced since Luffy was the usual trouble maker. However, when he saw that the straw hat boy was actually looking away with his arms crossed instead of the usual goofy grin he had after being caught, Smoker realized that Ace was telling the truth. He didn´t remember seeing the boy this serious before.

"Get to your class Monkey" he said "And you, Portgas, are coming to the principal´s office"

Luffy took off and Ace yelled: "What! But-"

"No buts, you better explain what you were doing" Smoker said, motioning for Ace to follow. The freckles face sighed, following. This was not his day.

**A.N: So there was Luffy´s reason for being mad at Ace. Pretty stupid, I know, but I thought it sounded Luffy like. What do you think? Oh, and review please.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Brothers in the Closet**

Ace went straight to his room when he got home; he had had a very long day. Smoker had dragged him to the principal´s office, but luckily he had been able to explain everything to Garp easily after Smoker left. Having a grandfather as a principal had, surprisingly, good sides too. Garp had just laughed at everything he said, including the explanation of why Luffy was so angry. And now he was looking for the hat; he knew he had it somewhere in his room. He was hoping that going to the school with the hat on his head would fix everything.

"_It´s Luffy after all; something as simple as this should work" _Ace thought, smiling to himself as he found the hat.

XXXXX

The next day Ace went to the school with the orange cowboy hat on his head, not minding the weird looks he got from others.

"So last season" he heard one girl mutter.

"Like hats like that would have ever been in!" said another, but he didn´t really care. Who knows, maybe the girls would leave him alone better with this.

"Haven´t seen you with that in a while" said Zoro as he caught up with Ace.

"Yeah, I dug it out yesterday" Ace admitted. Now the hardest parts were to make Luffy listen to him and to get him somewhere where they could be alone. He didn´t know which was harder tough…

"_I should ask help from Zoro… or maybe not, I don´t wanna Luffy to be angry at him too" _Ace thought with a sigh. He would have to do this on his own.

XXXXX

Ace sighed. It was a lunch break already and he still didn´t have an idea how to make Luffy listen to him.

"_What should I do?" _he wondered, eating his lunch in a tree. He wanted to think in peace, but he couldn´t do it if Hancock found him, so he had climbed in to a tree. No students, excluding Zoro and Luffy, would think he´d climb in to a tree.

"Why are you in a tree?"

Well, except Luffy´s little girlfriend.

"Just because" Ace replied, hoping that she´d go away before Hancock or some other girl noticed.

"What´s up with the hat?" Nami asked.

"I got it from my little brother" Ace replied, silencing her.

"So you and Luffy are not fighting anymore?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Ace looked down at her from his lunch box.

"_So she really knows…"_

"We are" he said "This hat it old"

"Oh…" Nami said "Do you two ever stop fighting? Aren´t you two brothers?"

"I´m not the one who wants to fight" Ace told "And it´s not that simple"

"Oh really?" Nami asked, not really convinced.

"Yes, really" Ace said, turning his attention back to his lunch.

"Well if there´s anything I can do to help you, tell me" Nami said, causing Ace to look at her in surprise.

"Why would you help me?" he asked, making Nami sigh.

"I know how hard it can be when fighting with a family member" she told _"And the more you´re in debt to me the better"_

Ace thought it over before saying: "Well, there is one thing you could help with"

"What is it?"

"Do you think you could make Luffy agree to talk with me in private? I need to get him to listen" Ace said. Nami thought about it. She did want to help, but she didn´t want to make Luffy angry and he probably wouldn´t listen anyway. Unless…

"I think I´ll know how to make Luffy listen" she said "Here´s what we´ll do"

XXXXX

After the school Luffy was waiting Nami, who had said she wanted to talk alone, outside the classroom. He wasn´t Sanji or anything, but a guy was allowed to have hopes, right?

…he was pretty close of being Sanji.

"Let´s go" Nami said as she came out of the class.

"Yeah" Luffy replied and they started walking.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" he asked after a while.

"You´ll see" Nami answered.

"Where are we going?"

"You´ll see" Nami said again. They continued walking until she stopped in front of a closet door.

"Why did we stop?" Luffy asked, titling his head to a side. Nami didn´t answer just opened the closet door.

"Huh?"

"Get in" Nami said, hoping that Luffy´s naïve attitude wouldn´t disappear now, ´cause if it did so would their plan.

"Why?" Luffy asked. Was there something in the closet?

"You´ll see" Nami replied. They stared at each other and just when Nami was sure he wouldn´t go in he opened the door "Okay"

Nami smiled; just a little more…

When Luffy was inside the closet Nami smirked, slamming the door shut and locking it with the key she stole from Buggy the cleaner. She had chosen this closet because it couldn´t be unlocked or opened from the inside.

"What? Hey, Nami! Open the door!"

"Stop yelling Lu or someone might hear" Ace said from next to him, putting the light on. Luffy paused at his yelling, trying to put two and two together.

"You…" he started "This was your idea!"

"Yup" Ace said "And we won´t get out before you listen to me"

"No way" Luffy said, crossing his arms and sat on the floor.

"Stop being childish"

"I´m always like this" Luffy defended.

"Right" Ace said with a half smile, crossing his arms "You´re always childish"

"Ye- I´m not!" Luffy yelled, almost agreeing with Ace, who just laughed.

"You never change" he said before his face got serious "Can´t you just listen to me for once?"

Luffy turned his head away, making Ace sigh.

"C´mon Luffy, you can see the hat can´t you?" he asked "I didn´t throw it away!"

"…then what happened?" Luffy asked finally, listening as Ace explained everything.

"Are you telling the truth?" Luffy asked from his brother, not sure if he should believe him or not.

"Have I ever lied to you?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow as Luffy put on his thinking face.

"Well that one time you said that Sabo ate my candies, but later I found out it was you"

"That doesn´t count!" Ace yelled, face red.

"There were plenty of other times" Luffy told.

"I meant about something important" Ace said, sighing.

"…I suppose you haven´t" Luffy finally said.

"Told you so"

"…"

"So, is this whole mess over?" the older one asked, a bit hesitantly.

"Yeah" Luffy said "Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"How do we get out?"

"Don´t worry; I got Nami´s number" Ace said, taking out his phone "I´ll call her and she lets us out"

"So Nami was in this too?" Luffy asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, the plan was hers" Ace said "But don´t be angry at-"

"Ace? What´s wrong?"

"My phone´s gone out of battery" Ace said.

"What!" Luffy yelled, he couldn´t believe it! "How can you be so stupid!"

"Don´t call me stupid!" Ace protested "Besides, I´m sure I can come up with something"

"I´m waiting" Luffy said, adjusting his hat.

"Do you have your phone with you?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, but I don´t have Nami´s number" Luffy told, taking out his phone.

"We don´t necessarily need it" Ace said "If you have the number of someone who has Nami´s number"

Luffy thought for a moment before saying: "Vivi should have it"

"Then call her" Ace said and Luffy nodded, trying to contact the blue haired girl. He let it ring fifteen times before hanging up. She didn´t answer.

"She doesn´t answer" Luffy said.

"Any other ideas?" Ace asked.

"No"

"…"

"…"

"…how about we wait five minutes and you´ll try calling again?" Ace suggested.

"Okay"

Five minutes later:

Luffy let his phone ring fifteen times again, but no answer.

"What now?" Luffy asked.

"Don´t know" Ace admitted "…we wouldn´t even be in this situation if you´d have listened earlier"

"Are you blaming me for this?" Luffy asked. Ace had not expected it, but he didn´t complain when he got Luffy´s fist in to his face. And so began the fight that ended the same way it did last time.

"Damn it" Luffy cursed "If I wasn´t hungry I´d kick your ass!"

"Yeah right" Ace said "You´re always hungry Lu"

"Yeah" Luffy said and they both laughed, but the laughter died down as they heard steps.

"Do you think it´s Nami?"

"Hopefully" Ace said "But shut up in case it isn´t; we don´t need anyone hearing us"

"Right" Luffy said. The steps came closer and they were sure it was Nami, but they cursed their luck when they saw who had opened the door. There stood Smoker the porter, and behind him was Buggy who Nami had stolen the key from.

"Err…hi?" Ace, who was still holding Luffy down, laughed nervously.

"Portgas, to principal´s office, now!" Smoker yelled "And get off of Monkey"

"But-"

"Now!" Smoker yelled _"Damn spoiled brat"_

"What about me?" Luffy asked.

"Go home" Smoker said simply, making Luffy sigh in relief. He didn´t want to face the old geezer. He left the closet, watching as Smoker dragged Ace to Garp´s office. He felt a bit sorry for his brother, but since it wasn´t him who was being dragged to the principal´s office he wasn´t going to complain.

When Luffy got to the front gates he blinked as he saw Nami, who didn´t seem to notice him, leaning against the gate and staring at her phone.

"Nami!" the girl jumped as Luffy shouted out her name.

"Luffy?" she questioned, looking at him "How´d you get out?"

"Smokey opened the door" Luffy told, but when Nami didn´t seem to get it he added: "Smokey the porter"

"Oh…" was all Nami said and they fell in to uncomfortable, or at least to Nami it was, silence, staring at each other.

"So… did you and Ace manage to make up?" Nami asked hesitantly. Even if the answer was yes there was no guarantee Luffy wouldn´t be mad at her.

"Yeah" Luffy said "So the whole closet thing was your idea?"

"Yeah… uh… are you angry?" Nami asked. Sure he didn´t look like it, but when it was Luffy one could never know for sure.

"Nope" Luffy said with a wide smile, making Nami smile too.

"So… where´s Ace?" she asked, finally noticing that the older man was absent.

"Smokey took him to the principal´s office" Luffy answered, shuddering.

"Why?" Nami asked, but Luffy just shrugged "Don´t know, but he´s done that before too"

"Are you gonna just stand there or are you going home?" Luffy asked as he passed the orange headed girl.

"Huh?" Nami said "Y-yeah, I´m going" she answered, not knowing why she was stuttering.

"Well, see ya tomorrow" Luffy said "And no more plotting against me"

"Of course not" Nami said, but not really promising anything "See ya"

**A.N: So tell me, how many of you got the wrong idea about the chapter´s title? Poor Ace, Smoker got the wrong idea… again :p**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Their Past**

Sabo was whistling as he half danced around the kitchen while cooking dinner, making Robin curious. It had been a while since she had seen him act like that.

"Are you drunk or did you get a promotion?" the raven haired woman asked as she sat down at the table.

"Neither" Sabo replied "Ace just called; told that he and Luffy made up"

"And that´s why you´re dancing like Luffy who just had caffeine?" Robin asked "You really are a man of simple things"

"And that´s why you love my company" Sabo said back, not daring to say the thing that had been in his mind. They were roommates and Sabo admitted he had a thing for Robin, but he had no idea what she really thought of him. He was pretty sure she thought he was too young for her, but he was allowed to hope wasn´t he?

Robin laughed; the three brothers always managed to make her laugh, no matter what. And that´s what she liked about them. They all had their own ways, but Sabo was the most different of them all; he actually enjoyed peace and silence and could easily spend his day accompanied by a book. Robin had never met such an easygoing yet serious and calm person at the same time until two years ago, when she had been fascinated by her friend´s older brother she accidentally met. He was just so… mysterious. And now after two years he still was; she knew almost nothing about his past.

"_But I probably know more about Luffy´s past than the others in the group, thanks to Sabo-kun" _Robin thought. She knew that the three brothers all had different parents, but in the end she only knew about Luffy´s real family. She had noticed that parents were a sore subject to Ace long time ago so she never asked, but she remembered how she had questioned Sabo about his parents. All he had said was: "You don´t know them, you don´t wanna know them." Back then Robin had taken the hint, accepting the fact that it was a sore subject for him as well. She had once asked Luffy about them, but the Straw hat wearing boy had just said that she wouldn´t wanted to meet those assholes. That was actually pretty much from Luffy who didn´t usually say bad things about people. But despite all that, she wanted to know more about the brothers, especially the blond haired one.

"Sabo-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"How old were you when you were adopted as Luffy´s brother?"

Sabo paused in his cooking, turning to look at Robin. Where the hell did _that _come from?

"Why do you want to know?" Sabo asked as he brought the food to the table.

"Just curious" Robin told "Well?"

Sabo stared at her for a while before sighing.

"Fine" he said, starting "To be honest I wasn´t officially adopted by them at any point"

Robin raised an eyebrow, but didn´t say anything.

"Ace and I were good friends; we sneaked out to the woods often from our homes. That´s also how we met at the age of five; in the woods" Sabo told "We usually just ran around, playing pirates or went to fishing, one day Ace even caught a rabbit and" Sabo laughed to some memory "We started arguing whatever Ace should take it home and make Dadan cook dinner out of it or if we´d both keep it as a pet… in the end it got away tough"

Sabo waited for Robin´s quiet laughter to die down before continuing: "That´s how things went till we were both seven and had to start school" Sabo told with a sigh "Ace skipped a lot of classes in order to come to the woods to see me, but I didn´t. I had a tutor at home, and my parents had told her to keep an eye on me all the time; I had no way to get out of there."

Sabo kept a small break

"I saw Ace twice or so after that before I turned nine; that´s when I ran away from home" Sabo told "A few days later I finally saw Ace again and we continued pretty much like nothing had happened"

"At the age of ten I met Luffy, who Ace had mentioned a few times, complaining about the big baby he had to live with now" Robin chuckled at this "And to the two of us he was just that for a while until… _an accident _happened"

Robin wondered about the "accident" as Sabo called it, but did not ask anything. The pained expression on Sabo´s face was clear, and she didn´t want to bring out his painful memories.

"Anyway, after that I moved to Dadan´s house too and Luffy and Ace started to get along. We didn´t go to the woods that much anymore; instead we started to play in the village and Luffy introduced Zoro to us"

Robin chuckled at this, earning a glare.

"No comments please" he said and Robin tried to get her laughter under control "Anyway, Ace skipped lessons all the time and was a troublemaker, so in the end he got thrown out of school" Sabo said with a chuckle "So boss, who was actually Ace´s legal guardian despite the fact that Dadan was raising him, paid Ace a private tutor. Soon after I joined Ace, not wanting him to be home alone with some old geezer all the time… you´ve probably heard of the man, his name is Shanks."

"Isn´t he teaching in the high school Luffy and Ace are in?"

"He is?" Sabo asked, surprised "Poor Ace; the redhead knows how to keep things under control. Well, that was pretty much the summary of it all"

"Summary indeed; you didn´t give me any details" Robin said, making Sabo smirk "You didn´t ask for details" he told "Now we better eat before the food gets cold"

**A.N: Really short I know, but it came pretty fast didn´t it? Anyway, please review, the reviews motivate me to write more.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A.N: Sorry it took so long… I should probably tell you that my summer vacation is over soon, and I´ll start my last year in business college and try to get good grades for once, so it´s probably gonna take me long to update… or not. I honestly can´t say for sure, but if there´s no updates in a while you now know why.**

**Chapter 17: Like Nothing Ever Happened**

It was Thursday and a lunch break, so Ace was wondering where he should sit to eat his lunch. He wanted to go eat with Luffy and his friends, but wasn´t sure if Luffy would accept it. Zoro had told him in the day´s first class that Luffy still didn´t want anyone to know they were brothers, and Ace wanted to respect that. He wasn´t sure of the reasons tough, except one of them might be the fact that he didn´t want women like Hancock to come after him. Maybe he should just eat in a tree again?

"Ace!"

"_Shit, too late!" _Ace thought as he turned in to the direction he heard Hancock´s voice from.

"Yes?" Ace asked, repeating "be polite" over and over again in his head.

"Would you like to eat with us today?" Hancock asked, making Ace curse in his head. Why had Makino taught him the thing called manners? He had to find a polite way to refuse and fast!

"Well I-"

"Ace is eating with us today" Ace turned around, finding Nami and Luffy from behind him "Right?"

"Yeah" Ace said quickly "Sorry Hancock, but I already promised to watch over these two lovebirds"

"Ye- what? Ace!" Luffy screamed his face actually a bit red. He didn´t need to go that far… and what did he mean by watch over them?

"That´s what he promised" Nami said with an evil smile that made shivers run down Ace´s spine. Oh shit "But I can see he would want to eat with you Hancock, so we´ll find someone else, right Luffy?"

"Huh?" Luffy asked, but got the point when Nami stomped on his toes "Ah, yeah! I can see that!" he said with a laugh "Have fun, Ace, Hancock!"

"Hey wait a minute, you two-"

"Bye!" Nami and Luffy called high fiving as they left back to the others. Ace sighed; making Luffy embarrassed was so not worth this.

XXXXX

Zoro raised an eyebrow as Nami and Luffy returned alone; weren´t they supposed to go get Ace?

"Where were you two?" Kohza asked, having his own ideas about the answer.

"Nowhere" both Nami and Luffy answered, making Kohza and the others suspicious.

"Oh really?" Margaret asked, not convinced.

"Weren´t you two supposed to go get Ace?" Zoro asked, making everyone look at him.

"Ace? That Shitty Singer?" Sanji questioned.

"Do you know any other Aces in this school, pervert cook?" Zoro asked.

"Shut up, Marimo" Sanji replied and soon they were on each others´ throats.

"Do they ever stop?" Nami asked, sweat dropping.

"No" the others answered, already knowing that trying to stop them was useless. They were sworn enemies.

"So did you guys go to get the singer or not?" Usopp asked, getting the attention of the others.

"We did" Nami replied "But he was just _dying _to eat with that Hancock bitch and her sisters"

"He was?" Zoro asked. There was no way that was true. Had he gotten on Nami´s nerves or something?

"Who wouldn´t be?" Sanji said, hearts in his eyes "Hancock-swan is one of the most sweetest, prettiest and-"

"Annoying?" Kohza and Zoro questioned at the same time.

"Shut it, shitty Marimo and Sand head" Sanji said "I was going to say elegant"

Margaret laughed at this, saying: "I never knew elegant meant the same thing as bitchy"

"Me neither" Kohza admitted, earning a glare from Sanji.

"Maybe I should ask Hancock-swan to eat with us? And her lovely sisters too, of course" Sanji wondered aloud, earning disgusted looks.

"No way" most of the group said.

"I don´t think they´d come even if you asked, Sanji-kun" Vivi reasoned. She didn´t really like Hancock either, but she wasn´t going to just say it like that.

"Vivi´s right; they think they´re much better than us, they wouldn´t come" Kaya continued, not liking the said three either.

"And if they´d come I´d leave" Margaret added.

"But Margaret-Chan-"

"No buts; that´s the way it is" Margaret said, putting her hand around Kaya´s shoulder "Choose; us or them?"

"I´m so in that one" Zoro said "Not that I would mind if Curly Brow started to hang out with Hancock"

"Don´t say that Zoro!" Luffy protested "Who´d cook for us if Sanji left the group?"

"Is that the only reason you wanna keep him in your group?" Kohza asked, making everyone laugh.

"Oh yeah!" Luffy yelled suddenly "We need to keep a welcome party for Ace!"

"Why?" Sanji whined together with Usopp and Kohza.

"That´s a great idea!" Margaret cheered "I´ll come!"

"Do we have to keep a party for that guy?" Sanji asked, knowing that he had already lost anyway.

"Yep" Luffy said "Let´s keep it tomorrow since tomorrow is Friday!"

Sanji sighed

"I better start making food when we get home, then"

"Since it´s a party for Ace we can assume that at least most of the girls in the school are coming" Zoro said.

"Including Hancock and her sisters" Kohza added with a groan of annoyance.

"Damn" Margaret cursed.

"But we are allowed to throw her out if she starts picking on someone, right?" Chopper asked, making everyone look at him.

"That´s right!" Margaret said "If she begins to be too annoying you guys can just show her to the door!"

"Yeah!" Luffy said "Make sure you tell everyone about tomorrow´s party, starting at nine a clock!"

XXXXX

"I heard that Monkey D. Luffy from second year is keeping a welcome party for you tomorrow" Hancock told to Ace when they walked to their next class (Ace hadn´t been able to get away) "Are you planning on going?"

"Yep" Ace said without hesitation "Were you invited?"

"They always invite the whole school" Hancock replied "So you´re seriously going?"

"Yeah" Ace said despite having the feeling that he should have lied to her.

"Then I will come too" Hancock told, making Ace curse his stupidity "Not that I´d be waiting much from it…"

"Well I know it´ll be fun…" Ace said, seeing Zoro who was going to the class while arguing with Tashigi, who was followed by Sanji and Nojiko, who was shaking her head "Hey Zoro, wait up!"

XXXXX

After school Ace was waiting for Luffy next to the front door. The passer bys gave him weird looks as he peeked inside and quickly hid him from sight again, but didn´t say anything thanks to Hancock who was a bit further away, giving dirty looks to everyone who stopped.

"_At least she´s good for something" _Ace thought, glancing at Hancock. Unfortunately for him their eyes met _"I seriously hope she doesn´t get the wrong idea"_

"You´re both coming to the party, right?" Luffy said and Ace got ready. Any moment now…

Now!

The second Luffy´s straw hat got in to view Ace brought his fist down on Luffy´s head.

"Ow!" he yelled, holding his head in pain "What was that for?!"

"Revenge" Ace answered, taking Luffy´s hat "Hey!"

"Catch me if you can!" Ace yelled, running away with the hat.

"Come back here!" Luffy yelled, running after his brother.

"Luffy-san!"

"Give up Coby; you can´t catch him" Helmeppo told to his pink haired friend "You can talk to him again tomorrow; here at school or at the party. Now let´s go"

XXXXX

Ace and Luffy had run all the way to Dadan´s house and Ace was now climbing to the roof with Luffy not far behind him.

"Give my hat back Ace!" Luffy yelled again as he finally caught up with his brother. Ace laughed, tossing the hat back.

"I didn´t think that you´d actually be able to keep up with me all the way here" he said, lying down on the roof. Luffy went to lie next to him and they both looked at the clouds.

"Ace?"

"Yeah?" the older boy asked, turning to look at his brother when he didn´t continue "What is it Lu?"

"Have you heard anything about my dad lately?" Luffy asked, making Ace raise an eyebrow. Luffy never really talked about Dragon.

"No" Ace replied "Why are you asking?"

"No reason" Luffy said with a shrug, telling obvious lie. Ace decided to ignore it for now tough.

**A.N: Review please!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Never Have I Ever**

It was a bit over nine a clock and Zoro went to open the door for Ace, who was unfortunately accompanied by Hancock and her sisters.

"You know most people didn´t bring a date but you brought three?" he asked with an amused smile.

"Very funny Zoro" Ace said "Are we going to get in or should we spend the rest of the night here?"

Zoro rolled his eyes, stepping away from the doorway so that Ace and the diva trio could get inside.

"Hancock-swaan! I´ll take your coat!" Sanji sang as he half ran, half danced to them "And of course yours as well, Marigold, Sandersonia"

The girls gave him their jackets, not even bothering to say thank you.

"Ungrateful bitches" Zoro muttered under his breath so that only Ace heard.

"Who´s singing?" Marigold asked as their heard singing and someone playing violin in the living room.

"You´ll see" Zoro replied and they all went to the living room, finding an old man with afro on the couch, singing and playing violin.

"Why does he look familiar?" Sandersonia wondered out loud.

"Because he became known about sixty years ago as "Soul King" and retired a few years ago" Ace explained "He was on the top of music for decades"

"But what is he doing here?" Hancock asked "In a place like this…"

"We invited him, stupid" Zoro told, getting glares from Hancock´s sisters. Hancock seemed angry, looking down on Zoro on her own personal way and starting to lecture him, but Zoro ignored her completely, partly because Ace asked: "He comes to private parties?"

"Not usually, but he´s a friend of ours so he agreed to come" Zoro told "Let´s just hope that Luffy and the others don´t stress him too much; he´s already pretty old"

"Ace! Over here!" Luffy yelled from the other side of the room, getting the attention of his brother and their friend. They both went to him, ignoring Hancock who was still ranting, and probably not even noticing Zoro wasn´t there anymore.

"What is she doing?" Nami, who was standing next to Luffy, asked and pointed at Hancock.

"Ignore her" Zoro told. The party went on and there seemed to be more quests than ever, which made Luffy happy. Sanji was happy too since most of them were women and was eager to work as a distraction every time that Ace motioned him over so that he could escape. The said singer leaned against the door of Luffy´s room, taking a deep breath. He seriously needed some time away from all those fan girls. He heard voices from inside Luffy´s room and they caught his attention.

"You sure about that, Nami?" he heard Luffy ask.

"Yeah yeah I´m sure, but be careful with it" Ace heard Nami say. Careful with what? There was a silence for a while and then Luffy said: "Alright, I got it in its place!"

"Finally!" Nami said. There was a silence for a while again, and then Ace thought he heard Nami sigh.

"Okay, now pull it out carefully" she said. What?! Ace resisted the urge to slam the door open. If they were doing something… _intimate _he didn´t want to see it.

"_No way, this is Luffy we´re talking about" _Ace thought with a sigh.

"What are you doing?" Ace almost jumped, looking up and seeing Luffy´s blue haired friend, whose name him didn´t remember.

"Nothing really" he said "Just hiding from Hancock and the others"

"I can understand why" the girl, whose name Ace still didn´t remember, said "She isn´t the most pleasant company"

"I can agree with you on that one" Ace said, hearing a small crash from Luffy´s room but deciding to ignore it for now "Um… sorry, I never got your name"

"Oh right" she said, holding out her hand "I´m Vivi, Nefertari Vivi"

"Ace" Ace said, taking her hand "But you already knew that, agues…"

Ace was about to say something more when he felt the door behind his back open, pushing him forward. Unfortunately he lost his balance; falling right on Vivi and they collided with the floor.

"What was… that… sound" Nami asked, her voice quieting when she saw the two people on the floor "What are you two doing?"

"Ace, not in the middle of hallway!" Zoro, who just rounded the corner, called out with a laugh.

"What´s he doing?" Luffy asked, coming from behind Nami "When did you start acting like Zoro, Ace?" the straw hat asked as he saw Ace on the floor with Vivi.

"Luffy!" the two older men yelled, their faces a bit red. Luffy rushed past Zoro, who went after him. Ace got up, following the other two after saying: "Excuse me, ladies"

"Why do I have a feeling that I don´t want to know what Luffy meant" Nami muttered while helping Vivi up.

XXXXX

Everyone watched in shock as the singer beat Luffy up in the middle of the living room. Well, everyone except Zoro, who just looked amused.

"Does anyone know what he did?" Usopp asked. He would have wanted to defend Luffy but, well, he was Usopp the Brave Coward.

"Who cares?" Sanji said, honestly not caring at that point.

"Stop it you two!" Vivi yelled in panic as she ran to the room with Nami.

"I don´t think they´re listening to you Vivi" Kohza said flatly.

"I´ll handle this" Nami said suddenly, causing everyone to look at her. She walked over to the fighting brothers, took a deep breath and hit them on their heads with full strength and yelled: "Cut it out!"

"Ace, are you okay!?" most of the girls chorused, making the guys sweat drop.

"Don´t you think you went a bit too far?" Vivi asked, but Nami just shook her head "Nope"

"What the hell Nami!?" the brothers yelled in sync, holding their heads.

"Quit it you guys" Kohza said.

"I have an idea!" Margaret said suddenly "Let´s play "Never have I ever""

"Alright!" Luffy cheered "I wanna play" pause "How do you play it?"

"Why I am not surprised…" Kohza muttered, shaking his head. Sanji sighed, explaining: "Someone says something they have never done, and those who have done the thing raise their hand"

"That´s not how it goes, idiot" Kohza and Zoro said.

"But we don´t have enough alcohol, so we improvise" Margaret shot back.

"That´s boring and it´s ruining the whole game´s idea" Zoro said with annoyed sigh "I´m not gonna play"

"What´s wrong Zoro?" Nami asked with a sly smirk "Afraid that some dirty secret of yours comes to daylight?"

A vein popped on Zoro´s forehead, making Sanji smirk.

"Don´t press him Nami-san" the blonde said "Marimo is just too scared to play"

"Like hell I am!" Zoro yelled.

"Don´t be like that Zoro, there´s nothing to be mad about" Ace said, patting the green haired man on the back as he decided to join the fun.

"That´s it, I´m playing!" Zoro yelled.

"_Too easy" _Sanji, Nami and Ace thought.

"That´s great!" Luffy yelled "Let´s play let´s play let´s-!"

"Shut up!" Nami yelled, hitting him on the head again.

"Stop hitting him or you might damage his brain!" Chopper screamed.

"What brain?" Kohza asked, making the others laugh.

"Are we playing or not?" Margaret asked.

"Yea yea" Zoro said "Oi! Those who want to play "Never Have I Ever" come sit near us!"

When everyone who wanted to play were there, Sanji asked: "Who´s going to start?"

"Mind if I do?" Ace asked. Sanji was about to protest, but a chorus of "Of course not" from the girls stopped him.

"Okay" he said "Never have I ever fallen asleep in a bush of stinging nettles"

Zoro glared at him, but still raised his hand together with Luffy.

"Seriously? You two are bigger idiots than I ever thought" Helmeppo said and got hit on the head by Luffy and Zoro.

"Me next!" Chopper yelled and the others allowed it "Never have I ever gotten drunk"

The others chuckled, most of them raising their hands. Usopp however was not part of these others.

"Usopp you sissy" Zoro said with a laugh.

"Shut up!" Usopp hissed, saying: "My turn. Never have I ever sang in the shower"

Most of the girls, plus Luffy and Ace, raised their hands.

"You sing in the shower?" Kohza asked from Luffy in disbelief.

"Yes he does" the ones living under the same roof with him confirmed with sighs.

"I´m next" Hancock said "Never have I ever bought anything from flea market"

Almost every girl kept their hands down, clearly just not wanting to admit it. Vivi, Nami and Kaya raised their hands, as did Margaret, but not so willingly. All the guys, excluding Helmeppo, raised their hands as well.

"You too Portgas? Shouldn´t a singer have enough money to buy their stuff as new?" Sanji asked, surprised.

"Well yeah, but I didn't really have much money as a kid. Besides, flea markets are fun" Ace said "Everyone should try"

"Never have I ever stolen anything" Coby said. Ace, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Nami, Margaret, Kohza and some others raised a hand.

"Criminals" Sanji muttered.

"What did you steal?" Helmeppo asked.

"Water to drink after training" said Zoro "Forgot my own"

"Little things; those were just pranks on others" said Usopp.

"Food" Ace said.

"Books from Doctorine´s shelf" said Chopper.

"…makeup" Margaret muttered.

"From a shop?"

"No, from me" said Margaret´s older sister, Sweetpea, who was also in the party.

"What about you Kohza?" Vivi asked, not sure if she wanted to hear.

"The regular stuff" Kohza said "Money from my dad, candies from shops as a kid, candies and small toys from other kids… oh, and your diary once, too."

"What!?" Vivi screamed and everyone else laughed.

"Chill Vivi, it was back then when we were just kids." Kohza tried to defend himself.

"What about you, Luffy?" the blonde boy said, wanting to change the subject.

"Food" Luffy said, making everyone roll their eyes. They should have known "And Ace´s porn magazines once"

"Luffy!" Ace yelled with red face, hitting his brother on the head.

"You did what?" Zoro asked, not having heard this one before.

"I was thirteen and Ace fourteen" Luffy started "He had been hiding something from me for weeks and I wanted to know what it was so one day, when Ace went to hunt, I stayed at home and found out what he had been hiding."

"So that´s how it went" Zoro mused aloud, laughing at Ace´s red face.

"Something like that" Ace admitted "I got in quite trouble for that; the old geezer beat me in to half dead"

"The old geezer?" Sanji questioned.

"My grandpa" Luffy said, shivering together with Ace "That crazy old geezer…"

"Crazy sure is the right word…" Helmeppo mumbled, not meaning it for anyone else´s ears. Unfortunately, the others heard it too.

"You know him?" Zoro asked, shocked. Even he didn´t know Luffy´s grandfather!

"Uh, well…" Helmeppo muttered, well aware that if he told anyone that the principal was Luffy´s grandfather the said guy would kill him.

"Doesn´t matter" Luffy said. When Usopp was about to protest Luffy said again with more force: "Doesn´t matter"

"Should I say the next one?" Ace asked, going to change the subject. Before anyone even answered he said: "Never have I ever gotten lost on my way to the bathroom"

"Raise your hand, Marimo" Sanji said immediately.

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled but raised his hand anyway. To his surprise no one else did "Ace, you´re doing this on purpose!"

"Of course I am" Ace said, making everyone laugh.

"My turn" Sanji said "Never have I ever kissed a guy"

"Idiot" Nami muttered, raising her hand among most of the other girls… and Kohza and Zoro.

"Guys, you do realize Sanji said guy, right?" Usopp asked, laughing nervously.

"Yeah, so?" Zoro answered with a straight face while Kohza just tsked. Silence followed, since only Luffy and Ace had known Zoro and Kohza were gay... except Vivi knew about Kohza too.

"...are you two saying you're a couple?" Margaret asked.

"No!" Zoro and Kohza yelled, both with red faces.

"But you're admitting that you're gay" Usopp said.

"Yeah, so?" Zoro asked "I never said I was straight, or did I?"

"I suppose not" Margaret said, glancing at Kohza, who just asked: "What?"

"I always thought you were straight" she commented and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well I'm not, so deal with it" Kohza told, starting to get annoyed by the subject "Next"

"Never have I ever walked in when some people were having sex" said Jewerly Bonney, a pink haired thin girl from third year. As you probably already noticed, she had a bit too blunt way of talking.

"I don't think any of us has-"Nami started, but stopped when she saw two raised hands: Luffy and Vivi.

"...how the hell did that happen?" Sanji asked, mouth hanging open.

"She needs to learn to knock..." Kohza muttered, making Vivi blush, trying to shake the image of two half naked men out of her mind.

"I don't want to hear it" Usopp said with a shudder, covering his ears.

"...and you, Luffy?" Margaret asked hesitantly.

"I walked in once when Zoro and my-"Luffy started, but stopped as he got hit on the head by Zoro.

"That's got nothing to do with this" the swordsman said. When the others were about to protest he hissed: "Back to the game."

"Never have I ever fallen asleep in bathroom" Luffy said, making Zoro snicker. He could name one guy in the room who had. Three hands rose, the hands of Ace, Kaya and a woman named Kikyo, who was in third year and a friend of Hancock's.

"In the bathtub" she quickly said and Kaya nodded in agreement.

"In the bathtub, shower, floor and more that you don't want to know" Ace said making everyone sweat drop, minus Luffy who was laughing.

"How the hell does that happen?" Helmeppo asked "Bad hangover?"

"Helmeppo-san, you know he has narcolepsy" Coby said, immediately realizing his mistake and covering his mouth with his hands.

"What?" Sanji asked from them.

"Who told you that?" Ace asked, glaring at Luffy who defended himself by saying: "It wasn't me!"

"The principal mentioned it at one point..." Coby muttered, looking away. Zoro raised an eyebrow; how had that crazy old man known? Of course it was easy for him to get the information, but why had he been interested in the first place?

"Guys, what's narcolepsy?" Usopp asked, unintentionally taking the attention away from Coby.

"You honestly don't know? Pathetic" Hancock said. To be honest she didn't know either, but there was no way she'd admit that.

"It's a chronic sleep disorder, characterized by excessive sleepiness and sleep attacks at inappropriate times" Chopper told without missing a beat. He had read about narcolepsy, but he hadn't met anyone with it before.

"Okay..." Usopp said despite the fact that he didn't understand even half of what Chopper said.

"You don't get it, do you?" Zoro asked, making Usopp defend himself by saying: "Of course I do!"

"Um... may I ask the next one?" Vivi asked, hoping to break the fight before it even started.

"Of course, Vivi-chan!" Sanji said, turning his attention to the blue haired girl.

"Never have I ever flunked a test" Vivi said, elbowing Kohza who whispered: "Nerd"

Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, Ace, Margaret, Kohza, Helmeppo and few others raised their hands.

"Math test" Margaret said before anyone even asked.

"Same here" Ace agreed, adding: "And physics."

"History" Kohza snarled, crossing his arms. It wasn't his fault; the history teacher hated him.

"_And only because I pulled pranks on her friend's daughter when she was working in the kindergarten when I was a kid... my pranks weren't even that bad!"_

"Geography, religion and social studies" Usopp said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot social studies from my list" Ace said, making Zoro add: "And domestic science?"

Ace smiled, admitting: "Yeah, that too."

"What about you, Zoro-san?" Coby asked, making the green haired swordsman tense.

"...math, geography, domestic science, social studies and chemistry" he muttered.

"Zoro's barely passed history always since he gets help from a woman named Robin who's an archeologist" Ace said, earning a glare from Zoro.

"Oh yeah, that bitch" Kohza muttered so that only Vivi heard, but this time she didn't scold him. She didn't really like the older woman either.

"And as for religion, Zoro's an atheist so he never had to study it" Ace told.

"You're an atheist? How come none of us knew?" Usopp asked.

"Luffy did" Zoro replied simply "And the tests he flunked are math, geography, history, religion, chemistry, physics and English."

"Luffy, you're an idiot" Kohza summarized, making the others nod in agreement.

"Never have I ever gotten a food poisoning" Kaya said, making Usopp, Zoro, Sanji and Chopper raise their hands together with Nami and few others.

"Try Robin's cooking and you will" Usopp told, making Chopper and Zoro shudder. Sanji hated to admit it, but his lovely Robin-swan couldn't cook even if her life depended on it.

"What are you guys talking about? It wasn't _that _bad" Luffy disagreed. The stew Robin had once made for them wasn't really good, but it was still food and completely eatable, at least in Luffy's opinion.

"You're only saying that 'cause you can eat anything" Zoro said "Even frogs if someone put them on your plate and told you they were food."

"Actually people do eat frogs in some countries" Sanji put in.

"That is true" Marigold agreed "They sell frog's legs in better restaurants"

"They do?" Ace asked, surprised. He had gone to a fancy restaurant only a few times and didn't like them since a, the food was expensive, b, he had to wait long and c, the portions were small "Do they taste good?"

"They're delicious" Hancock replied for her sister "They taste a little like snails"

The others made disgusted faces, swearing that they'd never eat snails.

"This game isn't going anywhere" Zoro said with a sigh "I'll go get some booze"

"So will I" Nami agreed and the two left the scene. One by one people scatter around the house and the game of never have I ever came to an end.

**A.N: I'm sorry for the long wait! I've been working on my other stories and all kind of school work, so... yeah. So, can anyone tell what Luffy and Nami were doing? It wasn't what Ace thinks, that much I'll tell you. And here's a thing you should know: Kikyo and Sweeatpea are not OCs, they're women from Amazon Lily. The next chapter will most likely still have the party going on, but when it's ready, well... I have no idea, but it should be up before Christmas. Now, the list of what I have to do:**

**1: More Sanji in to the story. Readers have been complaining about the lack of Sanji (not that I'm complaining; criticism is always welcome.)**

**2: Come up with a scene between Robin and Dragon (because someone asked for it.)**

**3: Find a way to bring Law in to the story again (for my Law obsessed friend.)**

**4: Any suggestions?**


	19. Chapter 19

**A.N: In this chapter we finally have a scene between Luffy and Nami again and a bit more Sanji. Which reminds me: should I do one chapter just for Sanji? Since there´s so little of him here...**

**Chapter 19: We Are Friends, Right?**

The party was still going and Vivi was walking around the house, looking for Kohza. She hadn't seen him since he left from the living room after the game of never have I ever.

"_I suppose coming out of closet was hard for him" _Vivi thought with a sigh, knowing that Kohza was afraid of what their friends might think about him now.

"Is something wrong? You look worried" Ace asked, startling Vivi as he appeared from behind a corner.

"No, I was just looking for Kohza... have you seen him?" she asked.

"That blond? No, sorry" Ace replied, paling as he heard Hancock calling for him.

"Shit" he cursed silently. He should have asked a map of the house from Zoro so that he could find hiding places better... okay, maybe not from Zoro but you get the point. He turned to Vivi, asking: "You wouldn't happen to know anywhere I could hide, and fast?"

Vivi thought for a split second before nodding, motioning for Ace to follow her.

XXXXX

Kohza had gone to the attic and used its window to get on to the roof. Now he was lying on his back on the red brick roof, watching the stars and regretting the fact that he came to the party.

"_No, to the hell with that! I could've avoided everything by just keeping my hand down but did I? No, I didn't. I just had to be stupid and admit that I had kissed a guy, that I was a gay." _he thought with a sigh. He had thought it was a good way to come out of closet, to act like he didn't care at all and that it was the most natural thing to do but no, it was a stupid idea. However, what had really caught him by surprise was the fact that Zoro too was in fact, a gay. Kohza had had a crush on the swordsman, even before he met Law, but he had always been positive that Zoro was straight, so he had made no move. But if Zoro really was gay, then...

"Taking a nap on the roof isn't really the safest idea, Sand head" Sanji said as he came out of the window, sitting next to Kohza, who fought against the urge to just push the older blonde off of the roof.

"Did you come here just to nag at me or do you actually have something to say?" Kohza shot back. Sanji rolled his eyes, saying: "Just came here to knock some sense in to you."

"Huh?" Kohza said before Sanji's shoe collided with his face. He didn't kick hard of course, because if he had Kohza would probably have fallen off of the roof.

"The hell was that for!?" Kohza screamed, holding his nose. Sanji, instead of answering, lit a cigar and said: "I spoke with Vivi-chan you know."

"And?"

"Didn't know you thought we were so old-fashioned" Sanji said, taking a drag from his cigar "It's not like we'll judge you for being gay or anything."

"I never said you would" Kohza said, trying to hide his relief. If Sanji didn't mind then the others probably wouldn't either.

"No, but Vivi-chan said you were worried about what we would say when we knew" Sanji said with a chuckle as Kohza blushed.

"...she understood me wrong" the younger blond mumbled, but the older one just snorted.

"I'm sure she did" Sanji said sarcastically "Anyway, my point is that nobody cares. Marimo's a gay too; Luffy obviously knew about it and is okay with it, so why would it be any different with you?"

Before Kohza could interrupt Sanji continued: "Usopp's a weirdo himself; he's in no place to say anything and I doubt Chopper even knows what gay means. As for me..." Sanji breathed out smoke, saying: "I honestly don't give a shit as long as neither you nor the Marimo don't try to make a move on me... or start dressing like ladies."

"No fear about that" Kohza said with a snort. To be honest he had always thought Sanji was homophobic, but it seems that he had been wrong "And the girls?"

"I think you don't really care for their opinions besides Vivi-chan's, no?" Sanji asked, making Kohza nod.

"I didn't know you knew me so well" he said.

"Of course I do" Sanji said, looking at Kohza for the first time "We're friends, aren't we?"

Kohza, after realizing this was the first time Sanji had called him a friend, said: "Yeah."

XXXXX

"It still won't open, huh?" Vivi asked, sitting on an empty box.

"Nope" Ace said, sighing. Vivi had shown him where the hatch to the cellar was and he jumped down. Vivi wasn't originally planned going in herself, but when Hancock was about to turn around the corner Ace had pulled her in and slammed the hatch down. After that Vivi had told him that once the hatch was closed, it could only be opened from outside. So now they were stuck; had been for the last half an hour.

Ace sat down, asking: "How often do they use the cellar?"

"It depends" Vivi said "Sometimes even twice a day; sometimes they won't use it even for a week... I think."

"Great" the ex singer said with a sigh "And all this because I wanted to hide from that crazy bitch."

Vivi was surprised by what Ace said, but didn't say anything. It had been obvious to her that Ace didn't like Hancock, but she thought that he'd never say it out loud so rudely... not that she was disagreeing with him; Hancock _was _a bit crazy. A crash brought her back to reality, making her look at Ace. He had fallen off of the box he had been sitting on and was now lying on the cold concrete floor.

"Ace-san?" Vivi asked, but got no answer. She moved over to the man, shaking him a bit "Ace-san? Are you alright?"

Still no answer. She almost panicked before remembering Ace had narcolepsy. She bent closer to him and was able to hear his light snoring, making her sigh in relief. She managed to turn him over, but that was all she could do. She didn't know how to wake him up and she wasn't even sure if it was safe; all she knew about narcolepsy was what Chopper had told them all earlier. She had no choice but to wait for Ace to wake up and that someone would find them.

XXXXX

Luffy and Nami were sitting on a rock in the back yard. Luffy had originally been looking for Ace, but when he saw Nami in the backyard he had decided to join her, forgetting his older brother completely.

"Why aren't you with the others?" Luffy asked, looking at his orange haired classmate.

"I just needed some fresh air" Nami said, not looking at him. Instead she was staring at her orange cell phone, her hands shaking.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked, noticing the obvious lie. He might be a bit on the slow side, but he wasn't _that _stupid.

"Nothing" she said, but he knew she was lying.

"You're lying" he stated. It wasn't even a question "Tell me."

"I already said it was nothing" Nami repeated, pocketing her cell phone.

"C'mon Nami, tell me" Luffy insisted "We're friends, right?"

Nami didn't look at him. Friends? Well yeah, probably. They always hanged around together in school after all. But they weren't close friends, not so close she'd tell him anything like this... but then again, she hadn't told Vivi or even Nojiko either.

"It's none of your business" Nami snapped, standing up.

"But-"

"Just leave me the hell alone!" she screamed at the boy's face before turning around and going back inside. Luffy watched after her, not saying a thing. She didn't need to yell at him; he was just trying to help.

"_I suppose I really need to learn to keep my nose away from the things that have nothing to do with me"_

XXXXX

Vivi sighed in relief as the hatch to the cellar opened. She and Ace had been stuck in there for three hours already. In that time Ace had fallen asleep five times and was currently asleep as well.

"You okay Vivi?" Kohza asked, jumping down with Sanji right behind him "What exactly happened?"

"Well we came in here to hide from Hancock and the hatch just closed and we couldn't get out" Vivi told, making Kohza sigh "You idiot."

Sanji shot him a glare for insulting Vivi. When he noticed Ace on the floor he asked: "What happened to him?"

"I think his narcolepsy is affecting him again" Vivi said "I don't really know much about those things, so I wasn't sure if it was safe to wake him up or not."

"I'm sure it'll do no harm, Vivi-chan" Sanji said, kicking Ace lightly on the side "Oi, wake up!"

"Stop hitting me, Luffy..." Ace muttered in his sleep, not waking up. The others stared, not knowing what to think of that.

"...I think I don't even want to know" Kohza muttered, changing the subject: "So, how are we going to get him out of here?"

"Let's just wait 'till he wakes up" Sanji said "Unless you want to drag him up?"

"Nah; we'll wait" Kohza said "I'll go tell the others we found them"

"Has everyone left already?" Vivi asked as Kohza had gone. Sanji pointed at Ace and said: "Aside from him, you and Sand head, yeah."

Vivi sighed.

"Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it, Vivi-chan" he said "You're not a bother."

"Oi" Luffy said after jumping down in to the cellar "Vivi, are you and Ace okay?"

"Yes, we are fine" she told "Ace-san is asleep, tough..."

"Like always" Luffy said with a laugh "Sanji, help me to carry him to the hatch. Zoro will lift him up from above."

Luffy lifted his brother up from under his armpits while Sanji took his legs. They carried him over to the hatch where Zoro lifted him up.

"We should probably get going" Kohza said, meaning him and Vivi.

"Yes" Vivi agreed "But will Ace-san be alright?"

"He'll be fine; he can sleep in the guestroom" Zoro said as he and Sanji proceeded to carry Ace there.

"Should somebody call his parents?" Chopper asked "They'll get worried; especially because Ace has narcolepsy."

"I'll do it" Luffy said, fishing Ace's cell phone from his pocket. This way he wouldn't need to pay the bill... not that it'd be big anyway.

Kohza and Vivi went to their homes and Zoro dragged Ace to the guestroom. The party was over.

**A.N: May I have some reviews? As a birthday gift?**


	20. Chapter 20

**A.N: You know, I just noticed that this fic is starting to have a much more complicated plot than I first planned, not to mention it was supposed to end when Ace and Luffy made up... (Which was supposed to happen when the school year ends...) it seems like I keep getting new ideas for this.**

**Chapter 20: After We Graduate**

Nami had felt bad the whole weekend; she shouldn't have yelled at Luffy the way she did at the party. He was just so nosy and Arlong's words from the phone call still rang in her head.

"_He's wrong... wrong wrong wro-"_

"Nami? Are you okay?" Nojiko asked since Nami hadn't answered her question.

"Huh?" Nami said "Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Did something happen at the party?" Nojiko asked, having noticed that Nami had seemed to be a bit down since last Friday.

"I suppose I did something I shouldn't have..." Nami admitted; her sister knew her too well.

"You got drunk and slept with one of the guys?" Nojiko asked, making Nami take back her earlier thoughts.

"No!" she hissed "I just... was a bit rude, agues."

Nojiko raised an eyebrow, saying: "My little sister is regretting being rude?" she gasped "The world must be coming to an end!"

"Shut up" Nami muttered.

"That bad?" Nojiko asked and Nami nodded "Well just go and apologize, then."

"It's not that simple" Nami said with a sigh.

"I know; you're way too stubborn to apologize from anyone" Nojiko said as they entered the school grounds "I'm gonna go look for Tashigi. See ya!"

Nami sighed as she watched her sister go. Was that really all? The only problem was that she was too stubborn?

XXXXX

Nami swallowed nervously as she got to the class, seeing Luffy already in his seat.

"_Well, here goes nothing" _Nami thought, having decided to apologize. Her stubbornness usually got her in trouble, so if she apologized now she should get everything sorted out rather easily.

"Luffy" she said as she walked over to his desk, getting his attention "I uh... sorry about what happened at the party, I was just a bit... um..."

"Hey don't worry about that, it was my fault" Luffy said with a grin "People always say I'm too nosy for my own good."

"So true" Kohza put in, leaning on Luffy's desk "So, what happened between you two at the party?"

"None of your business" Nami said with a glare as she went to her seat, making Kohza roll his eyes.

"_Women"_

XXXXX

At lunch break everyone were nervously watching Zoro and Sanji who, instead of arguing like usual, were giving each other glares every five seconds. Finally, Usopp broke the silence: "Okay you guys, what's going on?"

"This idiot here-"Sanji and Zoro both started, pointing and glaring at each other.

"You guys twins or something?" Nami asked, humored by the two's horrified expressions as they said: "No!"

"Okay, now tell us what's up" Usopp asked. The two started at the same time again, glaring at each other.

"Why don't we just ask Portgas if he knows something?" Kohza suggested, pointing at Ace who was walking towards them with Luffy "They're in the same class after all."

"Yo" the brothers greeted as they sat down.

"Did something happen in your class?" Vivi asked "Sanji-kun and Zoro-san are acting weirdly..."

"She means that weirder than usual" Kohza said, ignoring the glares he got from both of the guys.

"Well the old geezer kept our lesson before the lunch and-"

"The old geezer?" Margaret repeated, confused.

"The principal" Ace explained, but didn't offer any further explanation "Anyway, he asked us what we were going to do when we graduate and in his own turn Zoro said he'd wait few years and then would go to the area behind the Red Line to get stronger."

"And I simply stated he'll get himself killed" Sanji said, giving Zoro another glare.

"And then Sanjo-"

"Sanji" Sanji corrected Ace with a glare.

"Right. When Sanji's turn came he said he wanted to continue working in the restaurant he already helps in now and then, and Zoro called him a sissy. That's about it" Ace told taking out his lunch "If you ask me, that's ridiculous."

"Those two always fight about ridiculous things" Kohza said "Although, this time I actually thought it was something serious."

"Umm... guys?" Kaya said unsurely, getting everyone's attention "What will you do after you graduate?"

A silence followed as everyone was thinking over the question.

"I don't really know" Margaret spoke first "I'll just try to find a simple job that I can handle, agues."

"I think I'll try to get to university" Vivi told "But I have no idea what I want to study."

"And you, Kaya-chan? I remember you once saying you wanted to be a doctor?" Sanji asked, making Kaya nod.

"Yes" she confirmed "I'll go to university to study medicine."

"Good for you" Zoro said "I'll wait for a few years and do some simple job until I head to the Red Line and beyond."

"You'll get yourself killed" Margaret stated, making Sanji say: "That's what I said, but does he listen? No."

"No we won't" Luffy disagreed, making Sanji raise an eyebrow "We?"

"I'm going too!" Luffy cheered "And you, Usopp and Chopper are coming with us!"

"What!?" the three mentioned guys yelled.

"_Looks like he decided that on his own" _Ace thought with a chuckle, enjoying the show. He had known Luffy and Zoro's plans for years and he was eager to know who Luffy was planning on dragging with him.

"Are you scared?" Zoro asked with a smirk.

"No!" Sanji yelled at the same time as the other two yelled: "Yes!"

"C'mon guys, it'll be fun!" Luffy said with a grin.

"You guys are crazy" Kohza mumbled. Zoro just smirked at his direction, asking: "Chicken?"

"Hell no!" Kohza yelled, being easily provoked by Zoro "In fact, I don't have any plans for the future, so I might just go there too!"

"Kohza!" Vivi yelled in panic, hoping that her friend wasn't being serious. The area behind Red Line, Roger's territory, was dangerous.

"That's great; you can come with us too!" Luffy cheered, giving a high five to his amused older brother. Kohza, realizing what he had just said, paled.

"I never said I was going to go there with _you guys_" he said hurriedly.

"Chicken"

"Am not!"

"Then why not just come with us?" Zoro asked, continuing before Kohza could answer "There's still at least two years, most likely more. You'd have time to get stronger. Right?" the green haired man held out his hand for the blonde "But I can understand if you're scared."

Kohza glared Zoro, knowing he was being provoked. Still, he didn't want to back away from a challenge, especially from one that was given by the swordsman.

"I'm not scared" he said, taking Zoro's hand "It's a deal"

"Alright!" Luffy cheered "Now there are eight of us!"

"Eight?" Vivi questioned.

"I hope you're not counting us" Sanji said, getting nods of agreement from Usopp and Chopper.

"Of course I am" Luffy said "Franky and Robin are coming too!"

"Luffy, you shouldn't decided things like those for others" Vivi said, trying to change his mind "Besides, isn't that place dangerous?"

"But Franky and Robin already agreed" Luffy said, deciding to ignore Vivi's question "Zoro agreed long time ago and Kohza just a while ago, you all heard."

"It's not like you guys have to decide now" Ace said "There's at least two years until that idiot runs off behind the Red Line."

"Ye- huh? Ace, did you call me an idiot again?" Luffy asked from his brother, who just nodded "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Like you ever could!" Ace yelled back, dodging the punches.

"What about you, Tony-kun?" Vivi asked from Chopper, getting his attention.

"W-well I was planning on going to university together with Kaya, but..." he looked at Luffy who was still having a playful duel with Ace "I don't know, I might go with Luffy. It sounds like fun..."

"Not you too Chopper" Usopp groaned. He had thought that the younger boy was on his side in this one, but apparently he had been wrong.

"What about you, Usopp-san?" Kaya asked "What will you do after you graduate?"

"Me?" Usopp asked "I'll... uh..."

"Aren't you Yasopp's son?" Ace asked suddenly, pushing Luffy off of him.

"Huh? Yeah, what about it?" Usopp asked.

"I was just wondering if you were planning on becoming a teacher like him" as soon as Ace said this everyone burst out laughing, even the normally so quiet girls, Vivi and Kaya.

"Usopp as a teacher?" Zoro repeated "Never gonna happen!"

Usopp crossed his arms, feeling offended as he asked: "Why not?"

"Because you're coming with us to conquer the area behind Red Line!" Luffy cheered, but got hit on the head by Zoro who said: "That's not the reason."

"He's simply too stupid" Sanji said and the others nodded in agreement.

"Oi!"

"So Ace, what've you been planning?" Nami asked, having been quiet the whole time.

"I'll probably start to work in my... _caretaker's _construction company" he told with a shrug "Maybe I'll take over when she retires."

"Your caretaker?"

"I'm an orphan" Ace answered to Chopper's unasked question.

"Oh" Chopper said "Sorry"

"Nah, I don't mind" Ace said, waving his hand slightly "It's not that bad."

"What about you, Nami-san?" Sanji asked, inching closer to the orange haired girl "Do you have any plans for the future?"

Nami put her lunch down, looking up.

"I do" she said. The following words flowed out of her mouth without hesitation, making it clear to everyone that this young woman knew exactly what she wanted "I will seek for as much information about the lost city as I can. I will go beyond the Red Line, find the lost city that Gol D. Roger claimed to have seen and draw a map that leads to it!"

Everyone stayed silent, different kind of emotions and thoughts going through their heads. Most looks were surprised and disbelieving, but three faces stood out. Ace seemed gloomy, had been like that from the second Nami mentioned Roger. Zoro had a look on his face that most people who knew him called his "oh shit" –look. Luffy on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear.

"That's great, you can come with us!" Luffy cheered, proving Zoro's fears to be right. Nami would never get herself out of this one.

"And what would I benefit from that?" Nami asked, crossing her arms. Truth to be told this was what she had been hoping for, but there was no way she'd admit it just like that.

"It's not like you'd survive there on your own" Zoro reasoned, knowing that Luffy wouldn't be able to come up with any smart arguments "And most researcher groups that hire new members probably wouldn't hire someone as young as you. Plus they probably wouldn't trust your abilities enough so that you could draw the map."

Nami smirked. She agreed with everything Zoro said; he was smarter than she had thought. However, she didn't want them to think it was this easy.

"I'll think about it" she said, making Luffy frown.

"Why not decide now?" he asked.

"What are you, a little kid?" Sanji asked "Have some patience!"

"Does he even know what that means?" Kohza asked. The lunch went on, and only Margaret and Zoro noticed how Ace hadn't said a word after Nami had told everyone her plans.

XXXXX

Nami was walking back home as Zoro caught up with her, asking: "You've already made your decision, haven't you?"

Nami didn't answer, but the small smirk on her face was enough of an answer for Zoro.

"Zoro-kun"

"I know" Zoro said "I'm not gonna say a word to Luffy... but I'm warning you; he won't drop the subject until you agree."

"I was afraid that'd be the case..." Nami muttered "But I'll definitely get some use out of this!"

Zoro looked at her warily, wondering what kind of shit Luffy had gotten them in to. Women were crazy, especially this one.

XXXXX

"Um, Ace, can I ask you something?" Margaret asked as they walked away from the school. She had shown Ace a route that was barely used so they had been able to avoid Hancock. She didn't bother Ace at lunch breaks anymore, but that didn't solve the whole problem.

"Sure" Ace said. He had always been a bit uncomfortable around women, but had decided to learn to handle Luffy's friends.

"You've looked down since Nami-san told about her plans" Margaret stated "Why?"

Ace froze; he hadn't expected anyone, save for Zoro and maybe Luffy, notice. He just went like this every time Gol D. Roger was mentioned... because that man was actually his biological father. Luffy knew this, but Ace wasn't sure about Zoro. The guy was smart; he probably had his doubts. And there was a chance Luffy or Sabo had told him something.

"I used to have the same dream as Luffy" Ace told, and it wasn't a lie. It was back then, but now was now "I realized that it wasn't for me a long time ago, but..."

"But?" Margaret repeated, not noticing how Ace's fists clenched.

"It's nothing; forget it" he replied, walking faster "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya" Margaret muttered, wondering what she said wrong. Shrugging, she decided to think about it later. It probably wasn't anything serious anyway.

**A.N: So yeah, Dadan has a construction company, since I couldn't make them bandits here. Does anyone know how you could ask from the administrators on this site to ask more characters to the character list? I was just wondering since the One Piece one is missing Mohza and Shirley... I'd like them to be added there. **


	21. Chapter 21

**A.N: Here comes the first chapter of the year! Sorry it took so long, but I finished one of my other stories. Anyway, I have many new ideas for this year, and I might start a new story soon, which means slower updates for this one. Some of my ideas can be found from my profile. Go check them and tell me your favorite.**

**Chapter 21: Devil's Drug**

A man in black suit walked along the hallway, followed by a blonde haired boy, Sabo, Luffy's older brother.

"How's the testing of the Hie Hie Drug processing?" the man asked, turning around a corner with Sabo right behind him.

"All well so far; I'd say Kuzan's laziness is our biggest problem with it right now" Sabo told the man. His name was Monkey D. Dragon, father of Monkey D. Luffy and son of Monkey D. Garp. Dragon chuckled, glancing at his employee, asking: "You don't have much faith on him, do you?"

"Actually, I do" Sabo corrected "But I also know that he's lazy as hell."

"We all have our faults" Dragon stated "Although his is a real problem for my company."

"Ever thought of kicking him out?" Sabo asked as they rounded another corner, making Dragon nod.

"Many times" he said "But good test subjects are rather hard to find."

"You should call them employees" Sabo said, sweat dropping.

"They're testing my drugs, so they're test subjects" Dragon said with a grin, making Sabo sweat drop.

"I still don't get it why you named them "Devil's Drugs"; it gives the company a bad imago." he said, but Dragon ignored him. They had a long day ahead.

XXXXX

"Tuesdays are hell~" Kuzan, a man in his late forties complained, hitting his head on his desk.

"Every day at work is hell to you" answered Borsalino, a man in his early fifties. They were both working for Dragon and, despite their lazy attitudes, were one of his bests. They did paperwork and tested some of the drugs, including the Hie Hie Drug. Now you're probably wondering why does the main character's father own a company that makes drugs, aren't you? Well let me explain: the devil's drugs are no ordinary drugs. You see, they give their user unordinary abilities, like changing in to animals or having your body all slippery. They were invented by Dragon's scientist friend, Ivankow, ten years ago and now they had their own, well selling company. It had taken Dragon quite a while to convince the government that these drugs were safe and would be well tested before released to the market. The devil's drug wasn't the most convincing name, but that's what they ended up using. Currently there were three types: zoan, paramecia and logia. Zoan type drugs, the ones that allowed their user to turn in to an animal, were the most common ones. There were few paramecia types in market, but most of them were still being tested. Logia type on the other hand gave their user a power over elements and let their whole body change in to one. However, only few outside the company knew about the latest type. The effect of the drug lasted from 1 to 24 hours; depending on how well one's body could take it. Because of this there were often complaints from the customers, but they always came back since they couldn't get the drugs from anywhere else. One can only take one drug at a time, and it came with a troublesome downside: when the drug was affecting its user couldn't swim. These drugs were also pretty expensive, which meant only richer people had the chances of using them at the moment, not to mention to learn to control them since you couldn't just learn it in few hours. Actually, learning how to control the powers from the drugs had become one of the favorite pastimes of the rich people. So, I suppose you now know how the Devil's Drugs work, don't you? Good.

"That's because work is hell" Kuzan told, not lifting his head from the table.

"Then why don't you resign?" Dragon asked as he walked in to the room with Sabo.

"Too troublesome" Sabo rolled his eyes, asking: "How's the testing of Hie Hie Drug going?"

Kuzan lifted his head from the table, answering by turning in to ice.

"Like this" he said.

"I see you have finally mastered it; we might be able to show it to the public soon" Dragon said "And the Pika Pika Drug?"

"Well enough" Borsalino answered "The effect wore of an hour ago tough, so I'm taking a break."

"I see" Dragon said "And where's Robin?"

"Training grounds; working on the Hana Hana Drug again" Borsalino said "I don't understand why she bothers; it's already under her control and in the market."

"She just wants to improve it" Sabo said, sitting down "Can't blame her; it's her favorite after all."

"Speaking of which, what's your favorite?" Borsalino asked, but Sabo just shook his head.

"I don't really use them" he said "I tested a few, but... well..."

"No matter what type it was Sabo's body always rejected them; wouldn't last more than an hour" Kuzan finished with a lazy smirk, earning a glare.

"Tough luck" Borsalino said.

"I don't mind; they aren't really my thing" Sabo said, turning his attention to the table in front of him. The downside was that he was one of the people who got the most of the paperwork...

XXXXX

Nami sighed while walking back home. Luffy had been bothering her all day, after every class and in the lunch break.

"_He really wants me to go with him, huh..." _Nami thought. She had already decided to go with them, but she wouldn't say it just like that. But she was wondering how long she'd be able to handle Luffy before she snapped...

"_What was that?" _she thought, stopping as she heard a crash from the nearby park. She hid behind a tree, seeing Luffy, Ace and the principal in there.

"_What in the world are they doing?" _she wondered despite knowing it wasn't any of her business. She was nosy by nature. Her eyes widened as she saw Garp hit Luffy on the head and kick Ace to the ground. Should she call a police? The principal was a violent psychopath!

"You crazy old geezer!" Ace yelled.

"That's not a way to talk to your grandpa!" Garp yelled back "Now quit whining and attack, you sissies!

Nami blinked. Their grandpa? Well that would explain some things, like why Luffy seemed to be scared of him, but how come she hadn't heard of it?

"_Maybe the others don't know" _she realized _"After all, they don't know about Ace and Luffy being brothers either."_

Nami smirked, deciding to continue her way back home. She'd seen enough; this'd be good blackmailing material if needed.

**A.N: So yeah, about the drug thing... someone, don't remember who, said it'd be nice if I'd take the devil fruits in to the story and I thought that no way, I don't want anything supernatural in here! But when I started to think what kind of company Dragon should have I came up with the drug idea, so here we are. I just hope it didn't ruin the story completely.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A.N: So, I did find the place where you can ask moderators add characters to the list thanks to some help, but I couldn't understand it. So, now I have a request: could someone ask them to add Mohza and Madam Shirley? Thank you!**

**Chapter 22: Arlong**

Nami didn't feel like going to school today, but she did because she didn't want to worry her sister. Arlong had called again yesterday evening and she had made the mistake of answering. To make it worse, Nojiko had heard everything. She had been so worried that it had taken Nami forever to convince her sister that she was alright. It didn't matter to her what Arlong said, not anymore.

"Na~mi~!" Nami resisted the urge to strangle the young man who caught up with her. She was not in the mood for this, not now.

"I'll think about it" Nami answered automatically, quickening her pace.

"But I didn't say anything yet" Luffy said, catching up.

"You're just too predictable, Luffy" Zoro said, appearing to Luffy's other side "Leave her alone."

Nami smiled a little. She didn't really like the older guy, but at times like these she was grateful that he was trying to keep Luffy in the leash.

"But Zoro~" Luffy whined, making a tick mark appear on Nami's forehead.

"Just shut up for once!" she hissed, stomping off. The guys looked after her, blinking.

"What's up with her?"

"Who knows" Zoro said with a sigh "Women"

XXXXX

In lunch break Nami had excused herself to the bathroom, needing some time to think. Otherwise she could have been with the others, but they were way too loud for her to handle right now.

"_Especially certain grandson of the principal" _she thought, a small smile coming to her lips. She was definitely using it against him at one point or another. However, that didn't really ease her problems. She took out her phone, fishing a picture of her and Arlong in sight. He was a well built young man, few years older than Nami. He had a sharp nose and eyes. His black hair was long, at least for a guy. Nojiko would throw a fit if she knew she still had the picture of her and him in her cell phone.

"_How did it turn out like this...?"_

_Flashback:_

_Nami had met Arlong and his friends a bit over year ago on her first year of high school. They had graduated from the same high school she was going to in the spring and were now doing part time jobs near the village of Cocoyashi. Arlong worked as a porter in a bar, meeting Nami as she and her sister had tried to get in despite of them being underage._

"_For the last time; you're way too young to come here. Go back to the kindergarten" Arlong told them once again._

"_Aw c'mon, can't you let us in for once?" Nojiko asked "Don't be such a goody."_

"_I wouldn't care less about the rules; I might lose my job" Arlong snarled, letting some familiar faces whose ages he knew in past the two girls "Now get lost!"_

"_What, are you afraid you won't get a new job if you lose this one?" Nami asked with a smirk, knowing that she was getting under his skin._

"_You're starting to get on my nerves" Arlong said "Get lost before I'll use force."_

"_You mean you're going to use violence on two _women, _not to mention underage ones?" Nami asked, putting on a thinking face "I wonder what your boss would say about that..."_

"_Why you-"_

"_What's going on here, Arlong?" Arlong turned around, coming face to face with a black haired, very tall man._

"_Nothing, big brother Tiger" Arlong said with a sigh "These brats are just trying to get in, again."_

"_Brats? We're almost eighteen!" Nami snarled at him. Fisher Tiger, the owner of the place, didn't seem to care._

"_Almost isn't enough" he simply said "If you aren't eighteen then get lost before I call the police."_

_The sisters glared at him, but still left. If they got in trouble with the police again Bellemére wouldn't be happy._

_Nami sighed, another failure. She had to get in at least once, and soon. Nojiko, noticing her sister's disappointment, said: "Cheer up Nami, you'll get another chance."_

"_I certainly hope so" Nami said, not bothering to pretend being okay._

_Flashback_

Nami shook her head, coming back to earth. She had to forget and move on, she had to.

XXXXX

As Sanji, Usopp, Zoro and Luffy walked back home from school, the two last ones stayed behind, having something to talk about.

"Zoro?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Nami was acting a bit, uhh, weird today?" Luffy's question made Zoro stop. The surprised older teen thought for a moment before continuing walking with Luffy and answering: "Actually, no. She seemed pretty normal for once."

"That's the problem!" Luffy shouted, hitting his palm with his fist "Nami being normal isn't normal."

"_Like you're one to talk" _Zoro thought _"But you do have a point."_

"You're right; she did seem a bit off" Zoro realized "Maybe she lost her wallet?"

Luffy laughed, saying: "That does sound like a reason Nami'd be sad for."

They both laughed, but Luffy still couldn't help but feel something was off. People always called him an idiot, but he was good at telling when others weren't feeling okay. It was like a sixth sense.

"_Oh well, if it's important I'll find out later"_

XXXXX

Nami decided to take a long, hot shower to get her mind off of all the things going through her mind. However, that didn't help as a meeting with Arlong from long ago came to her mind.

_Flashback:_

_It was late and Nami was sitting on a bench in the park. Nojiko had work, so they didn't try to get in to the bar today. What she didn't know was that Arlong had a day off and he was also in the park._

"_Not trying to sneak in today?"Arlong asked as he sat down next to Nami, who just glared at him. Arlong laughed._

"_Why do you want to the bar so much anyway? Just wait a few years... and you could try another place, you know." he said, deciding to try to talk to her for the lack of anything better to do._

"_It's none of your business" Nami hissed to him, turning her head away._

"_Considering how much trouble you keep causing me, I think it is" Arlong shot back "Either you tell or I'll call the cops next time."_

"_Blackmailer" Nami muttered, but Arlong just laughed it off, asking: "And your point is?"_

_Nami crossed her arms, not answering. This guy was a jerk._

"_Are you gonna tell me or not?" Arlong repeated. In all honesty he was a bit interested in knowing why she was so stubborn._

"_...the famous Edward Newgate, better known as Whitebeard, is one of your regular customers, isn't he?"_

"_Yeah, hangs in the bar every now and then" Arlong confirmed "You a fan of his? Or of that band he has?"_

_Nami rolled her eyes; the band and its singer didn't interest her... well, at least not enough to act like this._

"_He's known for his adventures, no?" Nami asked "They say that excluding Gold Roger he's been in the area behind the Red Line most. I just want some information about it."_

"_Are you kidding me?" Arlong asked, honestly surprised "What would you do there? Treasure hunt?"_

_Nami chuckled._

"_Well, that too" she said "But I'm a cartographer; I'll be the first one to make a usable map of the whole area!"_

_Arlong laughed again, making Nami's eyebrow twitch._

"_What, you think I can't draw maps?" she asked, fishing out a map of Cocoyashi from her pocket "See? I drew it when I was only ten; it's damn easy you know."_

_Arlong looked at the map, honestly surprised by all the sharp details. Surely she could have copied this from somewhere, but he didn't quite believe that was the case._

"_And how are you going to get there? It's not a walk in the park and most researcher groups wouldn't hire an inexperienced cartographer"_

"_Then I'll just found my own or find a new one" Nami said without missing a beat, having made up her mind long ago. She'd do this no matter how long it'd take._

"_You sound pretty sure of yourself" Arlong commented._

"_That's because I am" Nami said "As long as I see the place myself or have detailed information I have no problem."_

"_Right" Arlong said, rolling his eyes "How about a little bet, then?"_

"_I'm listening" Nami said, crossing her arms._

"_Tomorrow I'll bring you some material my boss once collected while behind the Red Line" Arlong said, ignoring the surprise in Nami's face "If you can make maps out of those in a week, you get all the money in my wallet. If you can't do it, I get all in yours. Deal?"_

"_Deal" Nami decided, being sure she'd win. And if she'd loose it wouldn't matter much since her wallet was almost empty all the time... but it would hurt her pride tough._

"_I'll see you tomorrow at the same time, then" Arlong said, standing up "Don't be late."_

"_I won't" Nami said, swearing that she'd show him._

_Flashback_

"_Everything was so simple back then; we talked, made bets, hanged out with his friends and later fell in love... or at least I did" _Nami thought, turning off the water. Had he loved her after all? Everything had ended so suddenly... the day she took Arlong to the airport they were so happy. He was going back to his home for a month on a vacation.

"_But when he came back he was cold and distant... few days later he told me how ridiculous my dream was... we started fighting and soon broke up..." _tears threatened to fall from Nami's eyes, but she held them back. She had to stop crying because of him. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost jumped when her phone peeped to inform her about a new text message. It said _"Hey Nami, you looked down today. Did you lose your wallet?"_

"_Idiot" _Nami thought, responding to the message with this thought.

**A.N: Review? *Puppy eyes***


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: News**

"Shitty Thursday..." Sanji muttered as he walked to the class with Zoro.

"What's wrong with Thursdays, Curly Brow?" Zoro asked. Sanji rolled his eyes, saying: "Stupid Marimo, the principal's teaching us today. Weren't you listening Gram-san yesterday at all?"

"Do I ever?" Zoro asked "Don't tell Ace; he'll run away before the class even starts."

"Speaking of it, why does he hate the principal?" Sanji asked as they sat down in their seats.

"How should I know?"

"Aren't you two best buddies or whatever?" Zoro snorted at Sanji's question.

"No?" the blonde asked "...lovers?"

"I'm not gay you know" Ace said as he sat down next to Zoro "What are you two arguing about anyway?"

"Nothing" the two said together, making silent agreement to not tell Ace about the principal.

"You know, Usopp once said that if you two agree on something it means something bad is going to happen." Ace said, eyeing the two.

"Word from the wise Portgas" Sanji said "Always think twice before you believe anything Usopp says."

"Curly Brow's right, for once" Zoro said, ending up in a fight with Sanji. Ace sighed; this was going to be a long morning.

XXXXX

"Guys, why's Luffy sulking?" Sanji asked as he, Zoro and Ace got to their usual lunch place.

"Beats me" Usopp said "He's been like that since we were told our class will have a trip to the drug factory after few weeks."

"Drug factory?" Sanji asked with wide eyes after almost choking in to his drink.

"The devil's drug" Nami specified, not missing how Ace and Luffy exchanged looks "You know what it is, right?"

"Yeah" Sanji confirmed "The drugs that give weird powers, made by that crazy okama scientist."

"Crazy? I think he's funny" Luffy said, getting odd looks from the others.

"Luffy!" Ace hissed, making his little brother blink. When he realized what he had said he quickly covered his mouth, saying: "Woops, I wasn't supposed to say that. Forget it!"

"What?" Nami asked, narrowing her eyes at him "Luffy, is there something you should tell us?"

"N-no" he said, trying to whistle innocently.

"Liar" Kohza accused "Spit it out!"

"Now now guys, if Luffy doesn't want to say anything then he doesn't have to, right?" Vivi said uneasily, trying to be polite despite the fact that she too wanted to know.

"You're too soft Vivi" Usopp scolded, but Sanji disagreed, angrily kicking Usopp.

"Don't talk to Vivi-chan like that!" he said, turning to Ace "You seem to know something, Portgas. Care to explain?"

"Well you see-"Ace started, but couldn't finish as he fell on his back, eyes closed.

"He fell asleep" Chopper said.

"Well we have no choice but to ask Lu- huh?" Usopp said "Where'd Luffy go?"

"Nami's gone too" Vivi pointed out.

"God damn it" Kohza cursed. The others agreed and none of them, save for Zoro, didn't notice how Ace opened one eye, winking at the swordsman before closing his eyes again.

"_Heh, sneaky bastard"_

XXXXX

"Wait up Luffy!" Nami called after the raven haired teen, having followed Luffy as he left the others. He had some explaining to do... first he was Ace's brother, then the principal's grandson and now he knows a famous scientist. Also, his words in the library from so long ago kept returning to her mind.

"What is it Nami?" he asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

"Why'd you leave so suddenly? You're hiding something again, no?"

"No I'm not" Luffy said a bit too quickly. Nami narrowed her eyes, putting her hands to her hips.

"Liar" she accused "C'mon, we're friends right? And I've kept your secrets before, too."

"What secrets?" Luffy asked, making Nami sigh for his bad memory.

"The thing about Ace being your brother" Nami said, ignoring how Luffy shhd at her "And that you're the principal's grandson."

"Oh yeah, tho- what!? How did you know about grandpa?" Luffy asked in shock.

"I heard you and Ace talking with him in the park few days ago" Nami explained "So, will you tell me?"

"...Iva-chan is an old friend of my dad" Luffy said before turning around and starting to walk away.

"_Iva-chan?" _Nami thought in slight disgust "Aren't you going to tell me more?"

"No" Luffy said.

"Aw c'mon!" Nami protested, following him. Luffy smiled a little, pleased by the fact that he had Nami's attention, even if it was because of something like this. For once he was actually aware of the weird looks they got from the people who walked pass them, but he didn't mind.

XXXXX

"Something wrong, Chopper? You've been acting strange since lunch break..." Usopp asked as he walked home with Chopper, Sanji and Zoro. Luffy had convinced Nami to help him with geography again, so he wasn't with them.

"I was just thinking about those Devil's Drugs... do you think they're really safe?" he said worriedly, looking down.

"They have the support of the whole world" Sanji said "Those drugs wouldn't have been accepted even in our country if they were dangerous."

"Or the government just wants to make money; those things are expensive you know" Zoro stated bluntly, angering Sanji.

"Why you-!"

"The world isn't black and white" Zoro stated, looking at the others "Those who are seen good by the law aren't always doing the right things."

"So you think those drugs are dangerous?" Usopp asked, but Zoro denied it.

"I didn't say that" he said "What I meant is that even if the government trusts them they might still be dangerous."

"But everyone makes mistakes" Chopper said and Usopp nodded in agreement.

"What Marimo's trying to say is that the government might sell them even if they do know they're dangerous" Sanji said, being the only one who got Zoro's hint "Not that I really believe it."

"Believe what you want, Curly Brow" Zoro said, calling over his shoulder as he walked away: "And remember: nothing's 100 percent sure."

XXXXX

Nami and Luffy were lying on the floor of Nami's room, exhausted. Nami had been helping Luffy with geography, and had gotten annoyed by his lack of attention. She started to scold him and before she even noticed, she was hit with a pillow. That had started a pillow fight and now they were lying on the floor.

"I won" Nami said, rolling over on to her stomach.

"No you didn't" Luffy disagreed, still holding one of Nami's pillows.

"Yes I did, accept it" Nami said, sticking her tongue out. Luffy however, didn't think so.

"Nope" Luffy said, throwing the pillow away and starting to tickle Nami. The orange haired girl held her breath for a while before not being able to take it anymore and started to laugh "You lost!"

"No I didn't!" Nami yelled back as she tried to stop Luffy from tickling her. After a while she breathed out: "Okay okay, a draw! It was a draw!"

"Okay" Luffy agreed and stopped tickling Nami. She glared at him, saying: "That was cheating."

"You still admitted it was a draw" Luffy said with a grin.

"Idiot" Nami said.

"You know Nami, you're much nicer than I first thought" Luffy said with a straight face, making Nami blush.

"Wh-what was that supposed to mean?" she stuttered, embarrassed.

"You kept punching people; I thought you were really mean-"Luffy couldn't finish as he was hit by Nami.

"_Idiot" _she thought, a bit disappointed.

"What was that for?" Luffy asked, rubbing his cheek. Nami just shrugged, saying: "I just felt like it."

Luffy frowned at first, but then he suddenly grinned. He picked up a pillow, throwing it at Nami's face.

"Hey!" she protested.

"Just felt like it!" Luffy said with a grin. Nami rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. She picked up another pillow, saying: "I'm gonna get you this time!"

**A.N: I know, it's really short and boring, but in the next chapter something's actually going to happen. That'll have to wait tough, since I've started a new story called "Battle Royale." I'll be writing them alternately. It's rated T for now but will probably change into M soon... interested in some drama? Blood? Betrayal? Romance? Read it too and don't forget to review :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Sneaking Around in the Drug Factory**

Few weeks has passed since the second year students heard that they're going to visit the drug factory, so now they were all sitting on the bus, on their way there.

"I'm bored" Luffy complained, only to be ignored by Usopp, who was sitting next to him, playing with his cell phone.

"Shut up; at least we don't have to be in school" Nami said, turning to Kohza next to her "Right?"

Kohza didn't answer, just looked away, crossing his arms. He was still angry at Nami for tricking the window seat from him.

"Just ignore Luffy" Margaret said from the other side of the passageway "Unless he's eating something he can't sit still more than five minutes in a row."

"Or if the principal's keeping an eye on him" Kohza added with a small smirk "Why are you so scared of him anyway?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Luffy whistled innocently, looking out of the window.

"There has to be a reason" Usopp agreed "Tell us Luffy!"

"Leave him alone you two" Nami said "I'm sure he'll tell you when it's time; if there's anything to tell, that is."

Since Kohza and Usopp's attention was on Nami neither noticed Luffy's small, grateful smile. Nami had saved him once again.

"You're not allowed to keep secrets from friends" Kohza said giving a high-five to Usopp who agreed.

"Oh yeah? And who was it that hadn't told anyone he was gay?" Nami shot back, making Kohza glare at her.

"Nobody ever asked me if I was straight or gay" he hissed, but Nami just rolled her eyes. It seems the subject was still a bit sensitive for Kohza.

"That reminds me Kohza, do you have a boyfriend?" Margaret asked from the other side.

"Why are you even asking that?" Kohza asked back.

"Just curious" she answered "So, do you?"

"...no" Kohza answered, wanting Margaret to stop bothering him.

"Should we arrange you a blind date?" Nami teased. Before Kohza could protest Margaret said: "That's a great idea!"

"No it's not" he disagreed "Don't even think about it."

"We're gonna arrange a date for Kohza?" Luffy asked, poking his head in from between Nami and Kohza's seats.

"I said no" Kohza repeated, but was ignored by the others.

"Yep!" Nami said "Do you have anyone in mind?"

"What about Zoro? He's gay" Luffy suggested, causing Kohza's face go red.

"Are you crazy?" he asked "What part of no don't you understand?!"

"What about Sanji?" Luffy suggested since Kohza didn't seem to like the idea about Zoro.

"He's straight, you idiot" Kohza said with a sigh "Just drop it, I'll find a boyfriend on my own."

"I'm sure you will" Margaret said sarcastically. Kohza glared at her, saying: "How about we concentrate on getting _you _a boyfriend instead?"

Margaret blushed, looking away. It was true she didn't have a boyfriend either, so she should probably shut up.

"How long is the trip going to take? I'm bored" Luffy complained. The others sighed, saying: "We know."

XXXXX

After getting to the factory Shanks waited in the lobby with the second year students.

"Shanks, I'm bored, what's taking that guy so long?" Luffy asked, picking his nose. This caused him to get hit by Nami who hissed: "Have some manners, will you!?"

"I'm sure he'll be here soon" Shanks assured.

"I wonder if he's cute" Margaret whispered to Nami, who laughed.

"Let's hope you don't get caught checking him out; that'd be awkward." she said.

"I'm sorry for being late" they heard a voice say, a voice that Luffy recognized immediately.

"Yo, Sabo! How've you been?" the raven haired teen asked from his brother, their guide for the day. The others save for Margaret and Shanks who knew who Sabo was, looked oddly at Luffy.

"Fine enough despite the fact that my boss is a real slave driver" Sabo answered "What about you and Zoro?"

"We're fine" Luffy said "Zoro still trains and falls asleep in class."

"Naturally" Sabo said with a sigh "It seems I need to start the tour. I'm accountable of you all, so try to stay out of trouble. That means you too, Mr. Shanks."

"Speak for yourself, kid" Shanks said back "You were a real troublemaker as a kid; I wonder if anything's changed."

The two stared at each other, and if looks could kill Shanks would be a dead man already.

"Follow me please" Sabo said, turning around. As he led the class around the building, Usopp asked from Luffy: "You know him?"

"He's Luffy's older brother" Margaret told him "Why didn't you tell us he works here?"

"He doesn't really talk much about his work to me" Luffy answered with a pout "He says its class –something."

"Classified?" Nami suggested, making Luffy nod "Yeah, that."

"That's boring" Margaret said. Nobody said it out loud, but the tour was boring as well. Sabo showed them the labs behind glass windows, but they weren't allowed to go in. He showed them the head scientist's office, but the man was absent. They saw the training grounds, but no one there was testing the drug. Naturally all this wasn't even half of the building. Next Sabo would take them to the auditorium where Robin would keep a lecture about the drugs to them.

"You know, this visit is a real disappointment" Kohza said and the other students agreed.

"I hate lectures" Luffy complained, whispering to Nami: "Let's leave the group and go on an adventure!"

"Are you crazy?!" Nami hissed in disbelief "If we get caught we'll get in trouble!"

"We won't get caught" Luffy said with a grin "Well?"

Nami sighed, frustrated. A small smirk rose to her face as she asked: "So, how will we desert the others?"

"I don't know" Luffy admitted "But you'll figure out something."

Nami sighed again; she should've known this. However, she did come up with an idea.

"Okay, say that you're going to the bathroom and leave. I'm good at sneaking in and out of places, so I'll be able to disappear." she told in a whisper with a small smirk.

"Okay" Luffy whispered back and the plan went in to motion. Two minutes after Luffy had left the group, Nami deserted them successfully as well. She was an expert in sneaking around.

"So, do you have a map?" Nami asked as she found Luffy again.

"Nope" he replied with a grin "Who needs a map? It'll be a bigger adventure if we don't know what's ahead."

Nami hit him on the head, asking: "How can you be so optimistic? We'll get lost!"

"No we won't; we're not Zoro" Luffy said "And if we do we just ask for directions."

Nami's eyebrow twisted; how could he be so stupid?

"We're supposed to be with the rest of the class, you idiot, not here! If we ask for directions we'll get caught." she explained, wanting nothing more than beat Luffy half dead. Too bad someone might hear them if she did.

"Right" Luffy said, hitting his palm "Choose a direction and let's go on an adventure!"

Nami sighed again; she seemed to do that a lot lately, and yet she couldn't help but smile and show Luffy the direction they should go in.

XXXXX

"What is it, Iceburg?" asked Monkey D. Dragon who had been called to the control room by the man who was responsible for the security cameras, Iceburg.

"Ma~ Two young ones have gotten lost from the main group that came here to see the factory" Iceburg said "However, I do believe they've done so on purpose."

"Where are they now?" Dragon asked, getting interested.

"Going down the stairs; they'll reach the ground floor soon" the violet haired man told "I believe they'll end up going to the training grounds, section 5."

"I see..."

"Ma~ Should we send someone after them?" Iceburg asked, but Dragon shook his head.

"No" Dragon said "Let's see how long they manage before getting caught. When they do make sure they are brought to my office."

"So we're playing games again?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, sir" Iceburg said "I suppose my shift will be interesting for once."

Dragon's nonexistent eyebrow twisted as he asked: "If it's so boring why don't you go back to your official job as a mechanic in the factory section?"

"Too troublesome" Iceburg replied, making Dragon wonder if his two laziest workers were actually related.

"Try to stay awake" Dragon said, glancing at the monitor one last time. His son hadn't really been in the factory much, excluding the time when he tested one of the drugs, but it seemed he preferred a little personal tour instead of a lecture.

"_It's not like him to sit still anyway"_

XXXXX

"Where's Luffy? Our lecture will start any minute now!" Usopp said. He and the rest of the class were already in the auditorium, but naturally Nami and Luffy were absent.

"Maybe he got lost" Kohza said, shaking his head "Let's hope he won't start causing trouble."

"You do realize we're talking about Luffy, right?" Usopp asked.

"Right, he'll get in trouble for sure." Kohza said, noticing something "Hey, where's Nami?"

Usopp looked around, not seeing the orange haired girl either.

"Maybe she got lost" he said "Should we tell Shanks?"

"Too late, the lecture's starting" Kohza said, banging his head to the desk. Why did _she _of all the people have to keep the lecture?

XXXXX

"Luffy look, someone's there!" Nami whispered to her companion. They had reached the training grounds and had finally found someone.

"Is he testing the drug?" Luffy asked excitedly and Nami had to pull him back behind the wall.

"Don't let him see you, stupid" she hissed and they watched the training man. He had loose pants, purple open shirt and blonde hair that resembled a pineapple.

"Hey, that's Marco" Luffy suddenly realized, hitting his palm.

"Who?"

"He was in Ace's band" Luffy told "I do remember him saying that he has promised to test a new zoan type drug before it's released in to the market."

"What animal is it?" Nami asked, but Luffy shrugged "We'll find out."

Just then Marco burst in to blue flames. Nami's jaw dropped and Luffy covered her mouth so she wouldn't yell out in surprise. Marco jumped up, staying in the air as a bird that was burning in blue flames. A phoenix.

"Unbelievable" Nami muttered after Luffy had removed his hand. Marco flew in circles over and over again before starting to destroy rocks in the training grounds with his flames.

"No wonder it's still being tested; that's dangerous!"

"Where'd he go?" Luffy asked as Marco suddenly disappeared out of their sight.

"Right here" Marco said, landing right behind them, a small smirk appearing to his face as he saw Nami's horrified face "Got you."

"But you don't need to tell anyone" Luffy reasoned "Because we're friends."

"That's the worst excuse ever" Marco stated dryly, making Nami agree in her mind.

"But it's true" Luffy said with a pout "You can't tell anyone!"

"Okay okay, I'll keep my mouth shut" Marco said "You'll be caught pretty soon anyway."

"And why's that?" Nami asked, crossing her arms. Was he making fun of them?

"You do realize who's with you, don't you?" the man asked, making Nami get his point "Oh."

"Are you saying I'll get us caught?" Luffy asked, actually realizing he was being insulted.

"Yes" Marco replied, crossing his arms "I'd say you'll last half an hour at most; probably not even that."

"We'll see about that" Nami said with a small smirk "Let's go Luffy"

"Yeah" he agreed. Marco shook his head, watching as they walked away. Didn't they even realize the building had security cameras pretty much everywhere?

XXXXX

"Where the hell did Luffy go? Robin's lecture has been going ten minutes already!" Usopp whispered to Kohza, who shrugged.

"If he doesn't show up I'll go look for him while you distract the others" he whispered. Usopp nodded, clad that he wouldn't have to be the one to go look for him. Who knew what lurked in this place.

"...and also, we're currently testing a new type of a drug along with the zoan and paramecia ones. That type is logia, power of elements. Would you like to see?" Robin asked.

"Definitely" Shanks answered, smirking at the small cheers from the students behind him "But please, there's no hurry. You can finish your lecture."

Robin giggled at the groans and glares the students aimed at Shanks. It seems that testing the drugs would interest them more than her lecture, but she was going to finish it anyway. They'd just have to wait.

XXXXX

"Now that was new" Nami said. She and Luffy had seen Borsalino practicing with the Pika Pika drug, which was new to Nami since she had never even heard of the logia type before. Luffy on the other hand had seen logia types before, the Pika Pika drug included, but even he wasn't so stupid he'd tell it to her.

"But if we tell anyone about it they'll find out we were here" Luffy said, surprising Nami "What?"

"I didn't believe you could think so far" Nami said with a teasing smile, making Luffy frown "I'm not that stupid."

"Looks like it" Nami said, making Luffy pout. The orange haired girl answered to it by sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Which way next?" Luffy asked as they came across a staircase that led both up and down. Nami thought for a moment before saying: "Up; I don't want to end up in some kind of basement."

So they went up, but didn't get off in the second floor. They had left the others in the third floor, so they decided to go higher than that. They almost got caught the second they got in the fourth floor, but luckily the person who passed them was too focused on her phone call to notice them.

"That was too close" Nami said "So, which direction?"

"Left" Luffy replied, and they did go left. This floor had many people; not getting caught was hard as hell.

"Hey Nami, why's everyone wearing white coats?" Luffy asked and he was right; everyone on this floor they had seen so far were wearing white, long coats.

"I think we're in the labs now... or some kind of medical wing, possibly even both." Nami replied, thinking things over. She really wanted to take a closer look in to the labs, but the risk of getting caught was too high here. They should probably move to the fifth floor. They still had a lot to explore; the building had ten floors plus the basement Nami refused to go in. However, just a little away from the fifth floor's staircase were people, so they decided to move on the sixth, but there were way more stairs than they expected.

"Something's not right here" Nami realized, triggering a memory in Luffy's brain. He remembered Sabo once telling him that the sixth floor could only be entered by elevator, which needed a key, and a hidden staircase. He thought for a while before telling it to Nami.

"Seriously? They must have something secret there..." she muttered. As much as she wanted to find the hidden staircase, she realized that it and the sixth floor must have a really tight security. It would be a miracle if they got there.

"Let's just focus on the upper floors" Nami decided. They still had the four last floors left. The seventh seemed like a combination of first, second and fourth floors: it had labs, factories and training grounds. Nami was disappointed; she had hoped to find something she could investigate a bit better without getting caught. The eight floor seemed disturbingly normal. There were a few pot plants here and there, pictures on the walls and a couch behind one corner. The whole floor was a hallway with many doors, all of them locked. They almost freaked out when a man came out of one of the doors, but he just politely greeted them and walked away.

"Is this floor some kind of hostel for the workers?" Nami wondered out loud, jumping when she actually got an answer.

"Something like that; this is one of the two apartment floors." said a tall man who came out of the door they were standing in front of. It was Kuzan, one of the workers.

"Oh, it's just you" Luffy said, having known Kuzan for a few years. He was a good friend of both Garp and Dragon, not to mention he got along with Sabo well, so Luffy had run in to him often. Kuzan's eyebrow twisted.

"Yeah, just me" he said "Now what the hell are you doing here? Are you on a date or something?"

"Our class is here on a trip, but we got bored so we decided to investigate the place on our own" Luffy confessed, getting hit by Nami "That was too honest!"

"You're just like your grandfather" Kuzan muttered, sighing "Don't think you're getting away with this; I'm taking you to the boss."

"Not if we stop you"

"And how are you going to do that?" Kuzan asked, yawning.

"Like this" Luffy said with a smirk, taking Nami's arm "Run!"

"Luffy, we'll just get in to bigger trouble!" Nami yelled, but that didn't stop her from running alongside him.

"This is why I hate kids" Kuzan muttered before dashing after the two, catching up to them with ease. He got a hold of Luffy's collar, stopping him to the spot. Since Luffy was holding Nami's arm she had to stop too to prevent from falling.

"Let me go!" Luffy said, struggling in Kuzan's grip like a little kid who found out he had to go to the dentist.

"Not happening; I'm taking you to boss" Kuzan said, lifting Luffy up. It's not like he was short, but Kuzan was abnormally tall; Luffy's feet wouldn't have touched the floor even if his body had been completely straight "Are you coming Miss?"

"Yeah" Nami said, sighing in defeat. She was so going to kill Luffy once this was over!

XXXXX

Dragon was amused. Iceburg had just informed him that Kuzan had caught Luffy and the girl and was now bringing them to his office. He was also aware that Luffy would either play mute or yell louder than a newborn when he would be brought in; they just didn't get along. Or maybe he wouldn't yell, since as far as Dragon knew Luffy didn't want his friends to know about his messed up bloodline. He knew Robin had noticed that Luffy was missing and had sent Sabo after him, but the blond hadn't succeeded in his chase.

"_That's no wonder... he trusted that Luffy was walking in circles, since he didn't know Luffy isn't alone" _Dragon thought, knowing that his son's sense of direction wasn't really the best possible.

"Come in" he said as there was a knock on the door, knowing it was Kuzan. Dragon didn't even try to hide his smirk as he saw Luffy who was trying to fight out of Kuzan's grip, his feet still not touching the floor.

"I see you're in trouble again, Luffy" Dragon said, well aware of the frown on Luffy's face. The boy tried to tell him to shut up with his eyes, but Dragon ignored it. They had ignored each other long enough.

"Isn't he always?" Kuzan said, finally putting Luffy down "I'm leaving; I'm not taking a part in your little family drama."

Luffy gave Kuzan a glare, firmly believing he said that on purpose. When Kuzan had left Dragon crossed his arms, asking: "Whose idea was this?"

"Mine" Luffy admitted "And you knew that."

"Yes, I did" Dragon said "And if you two had used your heads a little you'd have been aware of the security cameras."

Luffy looked honestly surprised, like he hadn't even considered it, but Nami slapped her forehead, scolding herself for her stupidity. Of course there were security cameras!

"I always knew you weren't bright, Luffy" Dragon continued "But I didn't think you'd find as simple minded friends."

"Maybe I'm taking after my father" Luffy reasoned, not caring that Nami was there anymore. She was smart; she'd figure it out on her own anyway.

"Don't take that tone with me" Dragon said, entering a stare-, or in Luffy's case glare, contest with his son. Nami was confused and annoyed at the same time. Confused because of Luffy's behavior and annoyed that they were like she wasn't even there. She wondered if they'd even notice if she left the room, but decided not to test it. A knock on the door brought all three of them back to reality.

"Come in" Dragon said and Sabo opened the door.

"Hey boss, have you seen- aha!" Sabo yelled, noticing Luffy and walking over to him, bonging him on the head "Found you!"

"Ow!" Luffy yelled, turning to his brother "What was that for!?"

"You took off, you little brat" Sabo said "Why must you be such an idiot?"

"I'm taking after my father" Luffy said simply, making Sabo pause.

"Hmm... that might be the case" he admitted. Dragon however, didn't think that way, so he bonged both boys on the head. Nami, seeing a chance in this, smirked.

"Violence is never an answer" she said, and the three others managed to notice the smirk on her face "Luffy could sue you, you know. It would be a scandal if a successful businessman was accused from beating up a high school student, now wouldn't it?"

Sabo snickered and Luffy burst out laughing as Dragon's nonexistent eyebrow twisted.

"And who would people believe: a high school student or a successful businessman?" Dragon asked, maintaining his poker face with ease, wanting to see how well the young woman played this game.

"_Two _high school students" Nami corrected "And I'm sure the protective older brother here would take our side, too."

Now Sabo was laughing alongside Luffy, it was rare that someone was able to wisely argue with Dragon without losing after the first sentence. Dragon and Nami entered a staring contest, which lasted a whole five minutes since neither was willing to back down. Finally, Dragon grinned.

"You got guts, kid" he said "I admit my defeat, but be aware of security cameras from now on."

Nami let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Looks like they wouldn't get in too big trouble after all.

"Sabo, take these two back to their teacher" Dragon ordered, making Sabo nod. He was so amused earlier that he forgot his anger towards Luffy. The raven haired boy on the other hand was happy that Nami didn't seem to have realized anything after all. In reality, Nami had noticed everything. She'd ask about it from Luffy and demand explanation, but not now; she'd wait for a better place and time.

XXXXX

"Where the hell were you two?" Shanks asked as he saw Nami and Luffy enter the training grounds with Sabo.

"This idiot here" Sabo started, pointing at Luffy "Got lost after leaving the bathroom. Apparently his little girlfriend went looking for him, but it took her quite a while to find him since he was moving around so much."

Both Nami and Luffy ignored the girlfriend comment, deciding to handle it later. Now they were just happy that Sabo had their backs.

"How could you get lost like that?" Shanks asked despite the fact that he didn't believe them. He had been Sabo's teacher too; he knew what kind of guy he was "Are you stupid? Or just Zoro?"

Luffy just laughed at the last part, scratching his head.

"I got lost" he said, making Shanks sigh. Nothing would get through his thick skull.

"As for you, Miss Nami, I expected more from you" Shanks said, crossing his arms "You could have at least told someone where you went."

"I know; I'm sorry" Nami said.

"Now that everyone is here" Robin said, getting the attention of the others "Let us introduce the new type of a drug."

Kuzan stepped lazily in to the training grounds, yawning.

"Remind me again why I have to put up a show for these kids?" he asked from Sabo, ignoring the angry looks from the students.

"Because you have the best control over the logia drugs so far" Sabo replied "You took the Hie Hie Drug already, didn't you?"

"Yeah" he replied, the lazy smirk rising to his face "Are you kids ready?"

Without waiting for reply he freezes the ground, causing few of the students to take a step back. Next he created a simple ice statue that reminded a dog. It wasn't good, but the point was that he actually managed to do something like that with his powers.

"Unbelievable" Margaret breathed out; she had never seen the drugs being used in live situation, so this was completely new to her. Next Kuzan stole Sabo's hat, freezing it.

"Hey!" the blond protested, having not expected it "I didn't give you a permission to do that!"

"The best is still ahead" Luffy said to himself, but Nami heard him. Before she had the chance to ask what he meant, Kuzan started to turn in to ice. After his whole body had turned to ice, he changed back, only leaving his right arm covered in ice.

"Never try this at home" Robin said suddenly, walking over to Kuzan with an axe "Things might get bloody if you did."

"Those who feel nauseous easily, please close your eyes" Sabo said, but no one did. Their eyes widened as Robin chopped Kuzan's right arm off with one quick movement. Some of the students screamed, making Sabo wonder if Robin had overdone it.

"Are you crazy!?" Kohza yelled. Luffy took a hold of his shoulder, knowing that he might charge at Robin at any second "What now!?"

"Look" he said, pointing at Kuzan's arm, which was growing back.

"Wow" Nami said after the arm had grown back completely.

"This is the true strength of the logia type drugs" Robin told "But this is also reason why they won't be sold to just anyone; in wrong hands this would do much more damage than our other drugs."

"I can imagine that" Nami muttered.

"Yeah" Kohza agreed "Right, Usopp?"

No answer.

"Usopp?" Kohza asked, turning to face the long nose only to see that he had fainted "Ugh..."

XXXXX

After their visit had ended everyone were in front of the building, waiting for their buss.

"I can't believe you fainted" Margaret said, laughing at Usopp.

"But his arm got chopped off; any normal person would have fainted!" Usopp protested.

"Well in that case you're the only "normal person" in this class" Kohza told, catching a sight of Nami and Luffy from the corner of his eye, wondering what they were doing so far from the others _"Let's hope they don't run off again."_

No, they weren't planning on running off. They were away from the others because Nami had wanted to talk.

"You got us in trouble" she said with a frown, but that didn't bother Luffy.

"And you got us out, so no harm done, right?" he said with a grin "And we had fun!"

"Yeah, we did have fun" Nami said with a small smile "But let's plan things more carefully next time, okay?"

"Okay" Luffy said with a grin, and only now they noticed how close they were standing to each other. Nami's cheeks became slightly red as Luffy leaned closer. Their lips were barely an inch apart and then-

Nami's cell phone rang.

"Sorry!" she said quickly, taking a few steps back and taking her phone out "Hello? Oh, it's you Nojiko, I-"

Luffy watched as Nami went silent and how her face got paler and paler. She lowered her head and Luffy couldn't see her face.

"I'll be there as soon as I can" Nami said, ending the call. When she finally looked up Luffy could see the tears streaming down her face.

"Bellemere-san got in to a car accident!"

**A.N: Ha, a cliffhanger! Haven't given you guys those in a while, have I?**


	25. Chapter 25

**A.N: Be prepared for the "Evil cliffhanger of death" as my readers called it.**

**Chapter 25: Parents**

"What?"

"My mother, she got in to a car accident!" Nami explained "Nojiko's waiting me at her workplace; I need to get there as soon as I can so that we can go back to Cocoyashi."

"She works at Party's bar, right?" as soon as Luffy got a nod he took Nami's hand, dashing towards the front doors of the building they had come out of five minutes ago.

"Luffy! Where are you two going!?" Usopp yelled as they passed him, but they kept on running all the way inside, up many stairs and straight to Dragon's office. At the moment neither bothered to think how Luffy remembered the way, especially since Nami was still too stunned to think straight.

"Dad!" Luffy yelled as he threw the door to Dragon's office open. Said man sighed, asking: "What is it, Luffy? I have work to do."

"You need to drop us to Makino's bar" Luffy told. Dragon crossed his arms, asking: "And why's that?"

"Dad, we're in hurry!" was the only answer he got. The father and son held a silent staring contest for a while before Dragon gave in: "Fine, but you'll have to explain it to me later."

They left the building, going to Dragon's car. Normally he had his own driver, but he decided to drive himself this time because of Luffy's restlessness. They passed the front door and the buss still hadn't come.

"We get there faster this way" Luffy said.

"Yeah" Nami said, still in shock. Luffy frowned, asking: "You okay Nami?"

"I'll be fine" she assured "Your phone is ringing."

"I know" Luffy said, taking it out "Hello?"

"_Luffy, where the hell did you two go?" _Zoro asked from the other end of the line _"Shanks keeps asking me about it even though you didn't tell me anything."_

"Give the phone to Shanks" Luffy simply said, his serious tone making Zoro do as he was told.

"_Alright you trouble maker, you have three seconds to explain yourself. One-"_

"Nami's mom got hit by a car" Luffy blurted out, silencing the red haired teacher "We're going to her sister so that they can go back to their hometown."

"_...You two have a ride?" _Shanks asked.

"Yeah" Luffy confirmed.

"_Got it" _Shanks said and Luffy could hear him sigh on the line _"Make sure Nami gets to her sister."_

"I will" Luffy said, hanging up. Dragon, who had been listening the conversation, understood the situation better now. He concentrated on the road again, driving faster. In situations like these time was always precious.

XXXXX

When Dragon parked the car in front of the bar, Nami jumped off, yelling: "Thanks for the ride!"

She could see Nojiko's car, where she was already waiting, and ran there. They were off under a minute.

"That was fast" Dragon said, but got no answer from Luffy who had already jumped off as well "Where are you going?"

"Home" Luffy said simply. Dragon got out of the car, locking it.

"You sure you don't want to go get something to eat?" he asked, adding with a knowing smirk "My treat."

Luffy froze. Free dinner? Why did his father use that, he knew he couldn't refuse!

"Fine" he said and they walked in to the bar.

"It's been a while, Makino" Dragon said to the green haired barmaid, getting her attention.

"Ah, Dragon-san, haven't seen you in a while!" she said cheerfully, noticing Luffy "And Luffy too! How's Ace doing?"

"He's fine" Luffy said, sitting down. Makino's smile fell a bit as she noticed that Luffy and his father hadn't seemed to have made up after all.

"_At least they get along well enough not to try strangling each other" _she thought, asking: "Your orders?"

"The usual" they both said, making Luffy glare at his father. Makino glanced at Dragon. They both knew this was going to be a long night.

XXXXX

"Gen!" Nami yelled as she saw her father figure sitting on a couch in the lobby "How's Bellemere-san?!"

"In the operating room" Genzo said, gritting his teeth "The doctors are doing all they can, but..."

As Genzo trailed off the girls understood the seriousness of Bellemere's condition: it was possible that she wouldn't survive.

"Bellemere-san..." Nojiko mumbled. She could still remember the day she had met the woman.

_Flashback:_

_Nojiko was walking hand in hand with Nami in the streets of Drum kingdom, which had a terrible civil war going on. Not that the four year old knew much about it, but death and hunger had been everyday things to her ever since she could remember._

"_Nojiko, I'm hungry" little Nami said._

"_So am I, but do you see any food?" Nojiko asked. Her parents had died when their house crashed on them and she had become an orphan, living on the streets just like many other children. Few days later she had met Nami, who had told her that her parents hadn't been awake in three days. It would be much later before the orange haired girl realized that her parents had died of hunger, having given the little food they had to their daughter._

"_No" Nami said, looking down and trying to ignore the dead bodies they passed. Civil war of Drum, which had lasted for 14 years, was currently going its third year. Later the place would be known as the Sakura Kingdom._

"_Let's just keep walking; I'm sure we'll find someone to steal from soon." Nojiko said. Hunger wasn't the only thing that kept them walking; cold did that too. It was easier to stay warm while in the move._

"_Nojiko, look!" Nami said. She was pointing at a middle sized bag, which seemed to belong to a pink haired woman smoking a cigar. The bag was lying carelessly next to her feet and she was looking off in space, lost in her thoughts. Nojiko smirked in a way no four years old should be capable of as she said: "I'll bluff; you take the bag and run." _

"_Okay" Nami chimed. She was faster than the older girl and Nojiko was better at bluffing, so things worked just fine this way. Nojiko went over to the woman, getting her attention._

"_What do ya want, kid?" she asked, blowing out some smoke._

"_Do you know what day it is, old lady?" Nojiko asked, ignoring the vein popping on the woman's forehead as she saw Nami getting closer to them and the bag._

"_Old lady? Where are your manners, kid?" Bellemere asked, trying hard not to lose her temper. It was not prober for a peacekeeper to hit children._

"_Sorry" Nojiko said "So, do you?"_

_Nami was closer and Bellemere still hadn't noticed anything; so far so good._

"_Yeah, it's Wednesday" Bellemere replied. Nojiko had actually meant the date and month, but didn't comment. Nami was almost there..._

"_And what time?" Nojiko asked. Bellemere blinked, wondering why the kid wanted to know, but answered anyway: "12:30."_

_Nojiko smiled, Nami had gotten the bag. Now just a little while long-_

"_Hey kid, get back here!" Bellemere yelled as she noticed how Nami took off with her bag. She got up, but before she got after Nami Nojiko took a hold of her hand, asking: "Hey lady, do you know where the bakery is?"_

"_Not now kid; I've got a thief to catch" Bellemere said, pulling her hand away. Luckily Nojiko had already gotten Nami enough time to hide in an alleyway. The violet haired little girl smiled, leaving behind an angry peacekeeper. At that time neither of them knew that their paths would cross again very soon._

_Flashback_

A doctor coming towards them pulled Nojiko out of her thoughts.

"How is Bellemere doing?" Genzo asked, standing up from the couch. The doctor fixed his glasses, saying: "The surgery went well and her condition is stable now, but we don't know when she wakes up."

"Can we see her?" Nojiko asked, the doctor nodded, saying: "This way please."

XXXXX

"Oi Luffy! Where did you and Nami go earlier?" Usopp asked as Luffy finally came home.

"Is he sick?" Chopper asked after Luffy had just walked past them without even glancing at them.

"Who knows" Usopp said with a shrug. Zoro stood up, going after Luffy. Usopp had told him what had happened earlier and he was supposed to get information out of Luffy for Ace, but now he knew something was wrong. Annoying the younger man would have to wait.

"Luffy?" Zoro said, knocking on the door. When he got no answer he said: "I'm coming in."

He saw Luffy sitting on the floor in front of his bed, staring at what Zoro guessed was an old photo. The marimo closed the door, knowing that if it was as serious as he thought Luffy wouldn't want to take the risk of others hearing them. He sat next to the younger boy, but knew better than to look at the photo. Luffy'd show him if he wanted. They sat in silence for a while before Luffy said: "Zoro"

"Yeah?"

"Have I ever told you anything about my parents?" Zoro looked at Luffy in surprise, having not expected that. He had thought he'd gotten in trouble with Nami or something...

"A little"

"Like what?"

Zoro thought for a moment. What had Luffy told him again? Not much, that was for sure.

"Not much, really" he said "Your mother died after you were born and your father is a workaholic bastard."

Luffy nodded, he had said that.

"Did I ever tell you what my dad does?" he asked, but Zoro shook his head. The Marimo did have a pretty good idea of it tough, he just needed a confirmation.

"He owns a drug company" Luffy said. Zoro nodded; he had been expecting this.

"You're not surprised?" Luffy asked, finally looking up from the photo.

"Not really" Zoro admitted "I heard you talking with him once years ago and just put some pieces together."

Luffy nodded. He was relieved to see it didn't change Zoro one way or another, but he was his best friend anyway and knew about Ace too; the others might not take it so well. He didn't want to have friends just because his father was a millionaire. And there was still one thing even Zoro didn't know.

"How much do you know about my grandfather?"

"Huh?" Zoro asked, looking at him in surprise "Should I know something about him?"

This was all Luffy needed to know that Zoro didn't know a thing about the principal.

"Our principal is my grandfather" Luffy told, making Zoro blink: "Excuse me?"

"He's my gramps" Luffy repeated, slightly amused by Zoro's shocked face. The Marimo sighed, muttering: "You have one fucked up family."

Luffy laughed at this, relieved that it didn't change Zoro's opinion about him either.

"So, who else knows? Obviously Ace and Sabo, maybe Robin too, but is there anyone else?" Zoro asked, but he doubted it. Besides his brothers, Zoro was the first person Luffy ever told anything personal to.

"Yeah, Nami knows" Luffy said, shocking Zoro again.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"He heard gramps shouting at me" Luffy said, scratching his head "And I kind of slipped the thing about dad today."

"You're an idiot" Zoro said with a laugh "What did Nami say?"

"She promised to shut up about gramps, but I'm not sure about dad" Luffy told "I just have to hope she doesn't tell anyone."

And Luffy really did hope that. Zoro didn't seem to think any differently now, but they had known each other for so long. He wasn't sure about the others.

XXXXX

Nami sat next to Bellemere's bed, staring at her peaceful face. How long would she be in coma? The doctors weren't able to tell... As Nami watched her mother she remembered their first conversation together.

_Flashback:_

"_Got you!" Bellemere yelled with a grin, finally finding and catching the thief from three days ago. Nami squirmed, yelling: "Let me go, you mean old lady! Let me go!"_

_Bellemere's eyebrow twitched; this was the second time she was being called old in three days!_

"_Watch your mouth, kid" she said "Now where are your parents? How come they let you run around stealing like this?"_

"_I don't have parents!" Nami told, squirming "Now let me go!"_

_Bellemere blinked before letting out a sigh of frustration. Orphans weren't anything new in this country even before the war; she should've known. Some kids kept wandering around the streets and since the orphanages were so full the government, or what was left of it, didn't do anything. And they didn't really have enough food or space in the orphanages anyway._

"_What should I do with you, huh?" she wondered out loud. Nami, still struggling to get away, said: "I already told you, let me go! I have to get back to Nojiko!"  
><em> 

_Bellemere smiled at this. The kid was an orphan, but it seemed she did have someone taking care of her after all._

"_Well I'll take you there, just so me which way to go" Bellemere said, resisting the urge to take out a cigar. Holding the kid was hard enough already as it was; she didn't need more distraction._

"_No way, I'm not letting you near her!" Nami disagreed, sticking her tongue out "Now let me go!"_

"_Not happening kid" Bellemere said and put Nami down, but still kept a hold of her "You're not going anywhere on your own."_

_Nami ignored her and kept squirming, but Bellemere didn't let go._

"_Mean old hag- ow!" Nami mumbled and got hit on the head by Bellemere "Why'd you hit me!?"_

"_First of all, I'm not old. Second, it's rude to say hag" Bellemere said, mumbling under her breath: "You little brat."_

"_It's rude to call others brats" Nami said back, glaring at the woman. She glared right back, only stopping when Nami's stomach grumbled._

"_Are you hungry, kid?"_

"_No!" Nami said, blushing as her stomach grumbled again._

"_Really now? That's too bad; I have some food in my bag" Bellemere said with a smirk to the little girl glaring at her. Bellemere frowned as she saw the glint in Nami's eyes. Faster than she could react, Nami bit her arm and sprinted off right after she let go._

"_Get back here!" Bellemere said, going after her, noticing that the girl was incredibly fast and the quick turns she took didn't help at all._

"_Damn it..."_

_XXXXX_

"_Nojiko!" Nami yelled as she reached her friend in the alleyway they had their temporary home in. Nojiko looked up, but stayed sitting on the ground. She had hurt her leg yesterday and couldn't walk._

"_Did you get any food?" Nojiko asked although she did notice Nami came back empty handed._

"_No, the old lady was there again" Nami said, jumping when she heard: "Didn't I tell you to not call me old?"_

"_Nami, you idiot! Why'd you lead her here!?" Nojiko yelled, looking at the panicking three year old. Bellemere raised an eyebrow as she recognized the older girl, realizing they had worked together._

"_But she followed me!" Nami told, moving in front of Nojiko, facing Bellemere "Go away!"_

"_Easy kid, I'm not going to hurt you or your friend" Bellemere said, slowly sitting down to not to scare the kids. Nami packed away a few steps before snapping: "I'm not afraid of you!"_

"_Sure you're not" Bellemere said, taking food out of her bag "Hungry?"_

"_No" Nami denied as her stomach grumbled._

"_Is that so?" Bellemere asked, slowly taking a bite of her sandwich with a mocking smile "These sandwiches are delicious."_

_Bellemere looked at the orange haired little girl, who looked like she was about to give up._

"_Nami don´t, you can't take food from a stranger!" Nojiko yelled as she saw the younger girl hesitating. Bellemere chuckled, saying: "You're a smart girl."_

_She got up, literally lifting Nami out of her way._

"_Now let's take a look at your leg" she said, crouching down in front of the little girl._

"_My leg is fine" Nojiko said stubbornly "Go away."_

_Bellemere smiled at the stubborn little girl; she had guts. However, she needed to know the condition of her leg._

"_I'm not gonna hurt you, kid, now show me that leg of yours." Nojiko hesitated, but rolled up her pant leg anyway. This was the start of the small family living in the edges of Cocoyashi._

_Flashback_

Nami sighed, looking at her mother. Everything had been so well and now _this _happened... someone up there was laughing his as off.

XXXXX

"You look happy" Robin commented as Dragon got back to his office. She and Sabo were still there, waiting for Dragon to come back.

"You could say that; we might not have really talked but at least I managed to get Luffy to sit in the same table with me." Dragon said, walking over to the window "Things start looking better now."

"You served him dinner, right?" Sabo said with a lazy smirk "Luffy doesn't say no to a free meal no matter who offers it."

A vein popped on Dragon's head, but he kept facing the window since he knew Sabo was right.

"May I ask why did you leave in the first place?" Robin asked. Dragon smirked, replying: "Luffy needed a ride."

"Seriously, from you?" Sabo asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing full well that the father and son didn't really get along.

"Yes, from me" Dragon said, getting irritated "For once not from you, but from me."

"Maybe he knew Sabo's car is broken?" Robin suggested. Silence filled the room and then Dagon dropped on to his knees.

"Why must you always ruin my good mood?" the company leader muttered from the floor, depressed. Sabo burst out laughing and Robin said while giggling: "My apologies, sir."

**A.N: Making people depressed is a gift, no? :p**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: They're Your Friends**

"Do you think Nami's gonna be in school today?" Luffy asked as he and Zoro were walking to school. The car accident had happened in Wednesday and it was Monday now; Nami hadn't shown up in school after it.

"You've been asking that everyday" Sanji pointed out as he caught up with them "And yes, I think Nami-san will be okay already."

"What's up with her anyway? I heard her sister hasn't been in school either" Usopp asked as he and Chopper joined them.

"It's not our business to tell you guys" Zoro said before Luffy could make the situation worse. Luffy had told him and they had decided to shut up about it since it wasn't their business in the first place anyway.

"So you know, Marimo?" Sanji asked, narrowing his eyes "Spit it out!"

"It's none of your business, Curly Brow" Zoro told, dodging a kick aimed at his face "You wanna fight!?"

"Fighting first thing in the morning? Don't you two ever stop?" they turned around as they heard the voice only to see Nami and Nojiko walking towards them.

"Nami-sa~n! Nojiko-cha~n! You're back!" Sanji yelled, forgetting his fight with Zoro immediately.

"Yea yea, we're back" Nojiko said with a sigh, walking past the blonde "I'm going ahead Nami!"

"Okay!" Nami called to her, turning to her friends "So, did I miss something important while I was away?"

"No" Usopp said, asking "Where were you anyway? We haven't seen you since Wednesday."

"We decided to visit our hometown" Nami said. Before anyone could question further she said: "Let's go; I don't want to be late!"

The others shrugged, deciding to drop it for now.

XXXXX

Luffy and his friends sat on the roof, having chanced the place they eat lunch. The reason for this was that many of the girls had started to bother them on lunch brakes, trying to get closer to Ace.

"You know we could just ditch him and the girls would stop bothering us" Kohza said, earning a glare from Ace.

"I wouldn't mind ditching him" Sanji agreed, annoyed by the fact that all the girls swooned over Ace. He could sing, so what?

"Then why don't you two go away?" Margaret told them "It's not Ace's fault he's hot!"

The others laughed at how red Ace's face got thanks to Margaret's words. Many thought he was a playboy, but his brother's friends would have none of that; by now they knew he was way too shy to even ask a girl out. He didn't do well with women even though most of them swooned over him. In short he was good with people, but if a girl got too close he was in big trouble.

"Hot or not he's pathetic" Zoro said with a smirk "I bet even Luffy goes on a date before him..."

Everyone, even Luffy who didn't realize he was being insulted, laughed.

"I'm not _that _pathetic" Ace muttered, looking down.

"It's not like you have anyone either Zoro" Nami pointed out, a sly smirk forming on her face "Or do you?"

Before Zoro could answer Ace told: "Nah, he doesn't. You see, for years he's been head over heels on a guy called-"

Before Ace could finish Zoro elbowed him hard, glaring.

"That's all in the past" he said, making Ace roll his eyes.

"Of course" he said "But you two did sleep together once, didn't you?"

Everyone looked at Zoro who was starting to get pissed about how Ace kept talking about his love life.

"We were drunk" Zoro muttered with a scowl "And it was only one time!"

"Sure" Nami said, sharing a smirk with Margaret.

"It was" Zoro repeated. Those bitches were getting on his nerves.

"Yeah, we believe you" Nami said. Unlike Margaret she didn't break down laughing.

"Nami-"

"Hey don't worry; we believe you" she said with a sly smirk "You weren't good enough for him so there was only one time."

"What?!" Zoro yelled as the others started laughing "That's not how it went!"

"Yeah, he had another-"Luffy started, but Zoro stopped him by bonging him on the head "Shut up!"

"He had another man?" Margaret finished, but to her surprise Ace shook his head.

"Nah" he said "A woman"

"He's bi?"

Ace nodded, smirking as Zoro glared at him.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Zoro" Ace assured "The woman you lost him to is pretty hot after all."

"Shut it, virgin boy" Zoro snapped, completely turning the tables. Everyone shut up immediately and Ace's face went bright red.

"...I did not see that coming" Sanji muttered, making the others nod in agreement.

"So what?" Ace said as he had somewhat gotten over his embarrassment "I think the ones here that aren't virgins can be counted with fingers of one hand, no?"

The others looked down, up, anywhere but at Ace.

"Thought so" he said "We done with this conversation?"

The others nodded and everyone returned silently to their food.

XXXXX

After school Luffy caught up with Nami, wanting to ask her something.

"Nami?"

"Yeah?" Nami asked, cheerful as ever, but her smile fell when Luffy asked: "How's your mom?"

A long silence followed and Luffy started to wonder if he had made Nami mad. Right when he was about to apologize she answered: "She's in coma."

Luffy nodded, saying: "I'm sorry"

Even he could tell now was better to pretend he knew what it meant when someone was in coma. She wasn't dead tough; that much he knew.

"_I need to remember to ask from Chopper what it means later"_

"Its okay; she's strong" Nami said with a small smile that soon turned in to devious smirk, making Luffy gulp "So, who else knows about your dad?"

Luffy paled, having hoped that he didn't need to go through this conversation. However he knew that not answering would just get him in trouble so he answered: "I told Zoro a while ago... and of course Ace knows, too."

"Not anyone else?" Nami asked. After receiving a nod she asked: "Why?"

"I just never had a chance to tell them and it'd be weird to tell them now" Luffy said, but Nami didn't really by it.

"Or you're just afraid they'll treat you differently when they find out you're a millionaire's son" when Luffy didn't answer Nami knew she was right "You should give them more credit."

"Huh?"

"They're your friends" Nami said, crossing her arms "You should trust them."

After that she walked away, not waiting for Luffy's answer. He sighed, starting to understand why Zoro didn't like Nami. She could be so annoying sometimes... but she was right; he should trust his friends. It was easier said than done, tough. Luffy never really cared about people's pasts and he didn't want people caring about his past either.

"So, what were you two talking about?" Luffy turned around as he heard this, coming face to face with Nami's older sister Nojiko "Well?"

"Your mother" Luffy replied, causing Nojiko to sigh. Walking over to Luffy she said: "You do realize she's just faking, right? She's not okay like she says."

"I know" Luffy said, looking at her with an unreadable expression "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing really" Nojiko said. Her smile faded as she told: "Nami doesn't usually talk about the things that bother her... but if she does then please, be there for her."

"Yeah, I will" Luffy said, adjusting his hat "What about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Nojiko said, dismissing the question with a wave of her hand "I gotta go now; try not to let Nami babble out all your secrets!"

Luffy waived as Nojiko walked away. He didn't realize until much later that Nojiko had heard their whole conversation.

**A.N: Talk about OOC, no? And just so you know, the lunch scene was something completely random that I came up with while writing it. Anyway, I'm starting to lose interest in this story. Don't get me wrong, I already have the ending planned and I'm still going to continue, but I'm going on a little brake 'cause I don't know what to add between certain planned plot twists. I suppose you could say this story is going on a summer brake... See ya!**


	27. Chapter 27

**A.N: And the summer vacation of the story is over! Did you guys miss me? ...probably not, but you might have missed the story, so here goes.**

**Chapter 27: The Date Game, Part 1**

"Oi, Chopper" Luffy said, poking the younger boy as they did their homework at the kitchen table. Sighing, Chopper said: "Luffy, I already explained your math homework to you as well as I could without telling you the actual answers. You're not getting more help, not from me."

"That's not what I was going to ask" Luffy said "What does it mean that someone is in coma?"

Chopper looked up from his text book, wondering why Luffy was asking that. It didn't stop him from answering tough: "Well, coma is a state of unconsciousness lasting more than six hours, in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle, and, does not initiate voluntary actions. Get it?"

"Nope, not a word" Luffy admitted, making Chopper sigh. He didn't think so "In short, it's like a sleep you might never wake up from."

"Oh, okay" Luffy said, actually understanding now, looking away as Chopper asked: "Why do you ask?"

"No... No reason" Luffy said, sweating and whistling innocently. Chopper saw through the lie and was about to question Luffy but got no chance to do so as he said "I'm gonna go see what Zoro's doing" and was off. Chopper shrugged, deciding to drop it. It was probably just a word Luffy had heard from somewhere and was curious to know what it meant... or at least Chopper hoped so.

XXXXX

It was Friday again, and the week had gone past uneventfully, but that was about to change as Nojiko walked over to the usual group that sat on the roof, eating their lunches.

"Do you guys have plans for the weekend?" she asked, sitting down between Nami and Vivi. The others shook their heads, but Ace told he and Luffy had plans for Saturday.

"What are you guys doing?" Chopper asked. Ace glanced at Luffy before carefully answering: "We're going to see ou- I mean, a friend of ours."

"Why does it seem that you just corrected yourself?" Kohza asked, narrowing his eyes.

"'Cause he did" Sanji said and then all eyes were on Ace "Spit it out, singer."

"Who cares?" Nami said, having an idea of what it might be about "So Nojiko, what do you have in mind?"

Ace gave Nami a grateful smile as she managed to turn everyone's attention to Nojiko. Taking a bite of his bread he decided to listen what she has to say as well.

"How about we all play a little game?" Nojiko asked with a smirk. Alarm bells started to ring in Zoro's head as he saw the same kind of smirk make its way to Nami's face "You mean the Date Game?"

"The Date Game?" Zoro questioned, not liking what it sounded like.

"Yep!" Nojiko said cheerfully "Everyone who takes a part in the game take one card and those two who have the same color go on a date together. So, who's in?"

"I'm in!" Sanji yelled immediately, but paled when Margaret asked: "Doesn't that mean that two people of the same gender might end up on a date together?"

"Of course" Nojiko said "Nami and I are playing, that's for sure. So, who else is in?"

"I think I'll pass" Chopper said. No one bothered to argue against that. The boy, despite being a genius, wasn't really there yet.

"Um, I'll pass too" Kaya said, making Usopp agrees with her.

"The hell are you two chickening out for?" Kohza asked, glaring at Usopp as he smoothly answered: "Well unlike some people, we're not that desperate. We have each other."

"We're not desperate, it's just for fun" Nojiko said, asking again "I take it everyone else's in? Good."

"Just hold on a moment" Usopp said "There's 9 of you; one has to go without a date."

"I already thought of that and I do have a solution" Nojiko said "I'll just put in three red cards."

"Threesome?" Kohza asked, raising an eyebrow "Nice."

Nojiko rolled her eyes, mixing the cards and handing everyone one.

"So, mine's green. Who am I going out with?" she asked, showing the light green card to others.

"Not me" Zoro said after checking his card.

"Pass" Margaret said. With a shrug Kohza showed his card to the others, voicing his thoughts: "Well it could've been worse."

"Why the hell are you looking at me when you say that?" Nami hissed, but couldn't hit Kohza since Nojiko and Vivi were between them.

"Mine's white!" Luffy called out, tired of waiting.

"But not mine" Margaret said.

"I'm safe as well" Sanji said, sighing in relief.

"Shit" Nami said, paling. It was now clear who held another white card "Well, could be worse."

"You're just trying to annoy me" Kohza said as he noticed Nami looking at him. Vivi laughed nervously, hoping that her friends wouldn't start a fight.

"So uh, who else has a red card?" she asked, showing her card.

"I do" Margaret said at the same time with Ace.

"Lucky guy" Sanji muttered before realization hit him "Hey... doesn't that mean that the other with a yellow card beside me is-"

"Fuck no!" Zoro yelled, throwing his yellow card on the ground "...the Marimo."

"Hell yeah boys, rules are rules!" Nojiko told, clearly satisfied with the situation "Unless you two have no honor of course; people like that don't usually respect rules."

Nojiko knew she had said the right thing when the boys stiffened.

"Don't really have a choice, do we?" Zoro asked, sighing in defeat as the rest, minus Sanji of course, laughed.

"Looks like we don't" Sanji said "You better not try anything then, Marimo."

Zoro tsked, saying: "I'd rather swallow thousand needles than do that... or in fact, make it ten thousand."

"Maybe I should bring you ten thousand and one needles in a tray and see what happens" Nami suggested, making Zoro glare at her "Just focus on planning your own date, you witch."

"Zoro" Chopper said, getting Zoro's attention "You shouldn't eat needles; that's dangerous."

The others sweat dropped.

"...I'll keep that in mind."

XXXXX

As Nojiko walked out of her last class of the day she walked past Zoro, only to be stopped by his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him curiously, having a feeling that whatever he was going to say it had something to do with the Date Game since they never talked to each other.

"What?"

"You gave the white cards to Luffy and Nami on purpose, didn't you?" Zoro asked, going straight to the point. Nojiko was about to deny it but it seemed that her face gave her off as Zoro said: "Thought so."

Nojiko sighed, knowing she had lost.

"Just don't tell them that" she said "Nami's pretty down and needs something else to think about... and she comes along with that idiot just fine, so why not?"

"Are you sure _she's _the one who needs something else to think about?" Nojiko looked away, making Zoro continue "Isn't that why you wanted to play this stupid game in the first place?"

"...not really any of your business, is it?" Nojiko asked "Anyway, don't tell Nami about this, okay?"

"Just one more thing" Zoro said when Nojiko was about to leave "Did you decide all the other pairs too?"

Nojiko snorted, saying: "If I had I wouldn't paired myself with Sandhead."

Zoro snorted at the nickname, remembering how Sanji had used it before.

"Fair enough"

**A.N: Short I know, but this seemed like a good place to stop. In the next chapter we'll see how the date of Zoro and Sanji goes, as well as Nojiko and Kohza's. And let's not forget Ace, Luffy and their friend.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: The Date Game, Part 2**

"Is there a reason you invited us over or are you just gonna serve us tea and cookies?" Ace asked as he and Luffy sat around Sabo's kitchen table, munching on cookies. Sabo took in a deep breath, saying: "I need your help guys."

"Really?" Ace asked in surprise "I can understand you ask help from _me, _but what good could our weak, dumb little brother do?"

"...well, I need help from _you. _Luffy's just your tag along" Ace nodded, satisfied with the answer. Luffy, still busy munching on the cookies, didn't even notice the whole conversation "So, what do you need me for?"

"Well you see, I need your advice on how to... well, how to confess my feelings to special someone." Sabo said, making Ace snort. Their coolheaded, genius brother had girl problems? Well, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised since Sabo had been head over heels on this _special someone _for quite a while now.

"So you have girl problems?" Ace summarized with a lazy smirk. When Sabo nodded Luffy swallowed the cookies in his mouth, directing a question to Ace: "Is Robin mad at Sabo for something?"

"Lu-"

"Weren't you listening at all Luffy?" Ace asked, cutting Sabo off "He needs help in confessing his love for her."

"Hey-"

"Oh" Luffy voiced out "Can't he just go to her and say "I love you"?"

"Guys-"

"Well he could, but I think he doesn't have the guts to do so"

"Guys, seriously-"

"I see" Luffy said with a laugh.

"GOD DAMN YOU GUYS, PAY ATTENTION!"

"Thank you" Sabo said as his brothers finally shut up and turned their attention back to him "Now, who the hell said I was talking about Robin?"

Luffy and Ace glanced at each other before facing Sabo again, saying: "We know you were"

"Of course I was!" Sabo yelled "But is it really so obvious that _even you guys _can tell!?"

"Yeah" Luffy said, but Ace saw the double meaning behind those words: "The hell do you mean by "even you guys"?"

Sabo ignored the question, saying: "If you guys know, the Robin probably does as well."

"Probably, so what's the problem?" Ace asked "Just go to her and let your actions speak for you."

Sabo raised an eyebrow, actually little interested about this advice.

"Meaning?"

"Just go and kiss her" Ace said "If she kisses back, the feelings are mutual. If she slaps you, snaps your neck or does something else Robin like you're dumped, but at least you'll get it over with."

"But Ace, its Robin" Luffy said "Even if she did like Sabo she might slap him when kissed."

"For once Luffy's right, Ace" Sabo said, letting his head fall on the table "That's how she is... can you come up with anything less painful?"

"Let me think about it" Ace answered and the three brothers started to wonder what would be a good way to confess to the "special one."

XXXXX

"This sucks" Zoro muttered as he walked down the road with Sanji.

"For once I agree with you, Marimo" the blond said, blowing out the last smokes from his cigar, immediately lighting another one "Anyone would have been better than you."

"The feeling's mutual" Zoro said with a sigh "I need a beer."

"In the middle of the day?" Sanji asked "Shitty drunk."

"Shut it, nicotine addict" Zoro shot back.

"You want to fight?" Sanji asked. And so this supposed date turned in to a street fight.

XXXXX

The doorbell rang, and Nojiko went to open the door only to find Kohza with a bouquet of flowers.

"...you sure are taking the game seriously" she pointed out with a chuckle. Kohza rolled his eyes, handing the bouquet to Nojiko: "I was half hoping your sister would open the door. Bet the look on her face would've been priceless."

"Definitely" Nojiko said, tossing the bouquet inside carelessly and taking her coat. Winter was coming, and it was already cold outside "So, where are we going?"

"I was thinking about going to the movies, don't care which one" Kohza said "But _no _romantic dramas."

"I can live with that" Nojiko said with a shrug.

"Shall we go then?" Kohza asked, offering Nojiko his arm. She snorted, taking it.

"_This is gonna be an interesting day after all"_

XXXXX

"I'd like to see you do better, Marimo" Sanji said smugly to Zoro who just rolled his eyes. They were bowling and Sanji had taken down eight of the ten clubs. Zoro admitted that it wasn't a bad result, but he _knew _that he himself could do better. And that he did, for he got a full dumb, all of the clubs falling over.

"Chk, you got lucky" Sanji said, but Zoro disagreed: "It's not luck but skill" he smirked "Not that you'd understand anything about that."

"What was that, Marimo?" Sanji asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Do you have problems with your hearing, Curly Brow?" Zoro asked in return.

"You'll regret that!"

They just couldn't stop fighting even for one day.

XXXXX

"If it's too hard to say you could write a letter to her; you're good at writing" Ace suggested to his brother, who had turned down every idea of how to confess to Robin so far.

"Nah, she'd think that I was pathetic for not having the guts to say it in front of her" Sabo said, head still down.

"But Robin likes reading" Luffy pointed out, but then Ace realized: "But she isn't really the type for love letters, is she?"

"Definitely not" Sabo said.

"Say, Sabo..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think she likes you back?" Ace asked, causing Sabo to look up "If I knew we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Why not?" Luffy asked, making Ace sigh at his stupidity.

"Because if she did like him he wouldn't be afraid of being rejected" Ace told "And if he knew that she doesn't like him he wouldn't bother trying."

"Exactly" Sabo said.

"But if you knew Robin doesn't like you, you'd just have to do something that'd make her like you, right?" Luffy asked, making his brothers stare at him. Well, it was that easy in theory, but in reality...

"It's not that simple, Lu"

"Why not?"

"..." Sabo stayed silent, having no idea how to explain it.

"Looks like we have quests" the boys froze, looking at the doorway. They had not heard that Robin had already come back home.

"Yo, Robin! Long time no see!" Luffy called out.

"Didn't we see each other last week, Luffy?" Robin asked, laughing as Luffy questioned: "We did?"

"So, what were you three talking about with so serious faces?" she asked, making Sabo pale. Luffy better _not _slip anything unnecessary.

"About Ace's date tomorrow!" the straw hat wearing teen said. The sweat on his face gave him away to Robin, making the woman realize that he was lying, but the look on Ace's face told that the older boy _did _have a date tomorrow _"I suppose I'll concentrate on that first."_

"Luffy!" Ace hissed "Weren't we supposed to talk about the date between you and Nami tomorrow?"

Sabo stared at them in shock. Had Luffy learned how to lie or did those two actually have dates?

"So Ace, who are you going on a date with?" Robin asked, voicing Sabo's thoughts. Before Ace could answer Luffy told: "Margaret and Vivi!"

Sabo nearly choked on his own spit, asking: "How the hell did you manage to get _two _girls?!"

"Yes, especially since your brother here hasn't gotten even one" Robin said with a teasing smirk that just screamed challenge. Sabo narrowed his eyes at her, saying: "Well I just simply appreciate quality over number."

Sabo looked at Robin with a smug smirk, waiting for her to come up with a come back to that. It seems that she didn't tough as she asked Ace: "Care to tell me more about your dates?"

"It's not really a date" Ace said with a sigh "A girl from my class insisted that we play this "Date Game" and-"

"Oh" Sabo and Robin said together, obviously knowing the game. They looked at each other before quickly looking away "Say no more; that's one annoying game."

"...did you two end up on a date together while playing?" Ace guessed, knowing he was right as Sabo looked away and Robin's eyes narrowed. Gulping, the freckles faced teen changed the subject: "A-anyway, Luffy's going on a date with his crush."

"Oh really?" Sabo asked, preparing to tease their little brother, raising an eyebrow as the said guy shrugged.

"I don't know" he said "I haven't had a crush before so I don't know what it feels like to have one."

"...right" Sabo said, sweat dropping as he supposed that it was Luffy like to not get embarrassed about things like these "But you do like her, no?"

"Yeah, she's my friend!"

"But you like her more than Margaret, Nojiko or Vivi, right?" Ace asked, getting a nod "Then you probably have a crush on her."

"But I don't stutter when she's around like Sabo sometimes does with-"

"Luffy!" Sabo screamed with a red face, making Ace laugh "Shut it!"

"Oh?" Robin voiced her interest "And who is this person you stutter to?"

"No one!" Sabo snapped, thanking the heavens he didn't stutter now of all times "Anyway, try not to fall asleep while on date, Ace."

"At least I _have _a date, don't I Sabo?" Ace said, earning a glare from his brother "And so does Luffy. Do you want us to introduce you to someone who we know?"

"Out, both of you" were Sabo's answer. The two laughed. Before leaving Ace called over his shoulder: "Hey Robin, introduce Sabo to someone will ya? He's so~ lonely!"

"You're so dead when I see you next time" Sabo muttered, doing his best to ignore Robin's laughing. Those two weren't of any help at all.

XXXXX

"That could've been better" Nojiko muttered as she and Kohza walked down the road, eating the last of their popcorn. The movie Nojiko had chosen turned out not to be so good after all, but she wouldn't really call it waste of time, either.

"Yeah" Kohza agreed, taking the very last popcorn before tossing the empty bag in to a nearby trash can "But I've seen worse."

"Me too" Nojiko said, and after that the two stayed silent. It wasn't really that uncomfortable one, but it was still awkward. Neither knew what to say tough so both just decided to shut up.

"_Well I suppose this is what happens when you end up on a date with a gay boy... it's such a waste tough; he looks good and is okay in my books." _Nojiko thought. She supposed it was true that nice guys were always either taken, ugly or like Kohza, gay.

"Isn't that Zoro and Sanji over there?" Kohza said suddenly, making Nojiko look at the other side of the street, too "You're right."

"Nojiko-chan!" Sanji yelled immediately after noticing them, making Kohza groan in annoyance.

"And there they come" Nojiko said, not looking forward to talking to them either. Well, Zoro was okay in her books and so was Sanji in a way, as long as he didn't flirt too loudly, but as far as she knew those two always fought when in the same place at the same time. Great, just great.

"Nojiko-chan, how was your day?" Sanji asked as he reached them.

"Well enough" she said with a shrug "And yours?"

"Living hell" Sanji replied, making Kohza snort.

"For once I agree with you, Shitty Cook" Zoro said as he reached them.

"What, you guys didn't have a nice date?" Kohza asked with a smirk, knowing as well as everyone else that those two simply _hated_ each other.

"Shut it, Sand head" Sanji spat "Bet your date didn't go so well either."

"Actually we were having pretty fun" Kohza said, which was pretty much a lie "Until you two showed up, that is."

The two blonds narrowed their eyes at each other. Nojiko, seeing that a fight might be about to brake, blurted out: "How about we switch pairs?"

"Huh?" the guys asked at once. The idea didn't sound so bad tough "Well?"

"Sure, why not?" Kohza asked with a shrug, making the other guys nod.

"That's settled then" Nojiko said, taking Zoro's arm "Let's go; Roronoa."

The blonds blinked before what happened registered in their brains.

"Wait a minute!" they yelled when they got it. Nojiko laughed and Zoro snickered, knowing that Nojiko had done that on purpose "Just a joke, you guys."

She took Sanji's arm and started to drag him down the street.

"I'm hungry; you'll pay" she stated, knowing that Sanji wouldn't refuse "Of course, Nojiko-chan!"

"What, you didn't feed your date?" Zoro asked with a lazy smirk "That's not how a gentleman should act."

"When have I ever said that I'd be a gentleman?" Kohza asked "How about we go get something to drink?"

"That's the first good idea I've heard all day" Zoro agreed "Let's go."

**A.N: Well I didn't really tell much about their dates and in the end they ended up switching pairs, but I still liked writing this. In the next chapter we'll see the long waited date between Luffy and Nami, as well as the date of Vivi, Ace and Margaret.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: The Date Game, Part 3**

"She's taking too long..." Luffy muttered as he waited for Nami at a bus stop with Ace "We'll miss our bus."

"No you won't; she'll be here soon" Ace said, looking at his wrist watch "And Margaret and Vivi _should _be here by now; how come they're both late? We can't be late for the movies."

"Maybe you got dumped?" Luffy asked with a huge grin which was replaced by a frown as Ace bonged him on the head "What did I do?"

"Like I'd get dumped; girls love me" Ace said, crossing his arms. Luffy grinned again, saying: "But _you _fear them."

Ace hit him on the head again, muttering: "Shut up."

"Sorry if we're late" Vivi called from the other side of the road, crossing it with Margaret as the light turned green "Did we make it in time?"

"Yeah; the movie theater isn't that far away" Ace said "We'll be going now Luffy; let's hope that Nami didn't ditch you."

Margaret laughed and Vivi scolded Ace, telling him that it was rude, but he just waived it off while dodging Luffy's punch.

"Don't fall asleep in the movies" Luffy said, sticking his tongue out at Ace.

"Like I'd do that" Ace said. That had happened many times, in fact almost always when he went to the movies, but there was no need to tell that to his dates "We'll be going now."

"Yeah, bye!" Luffy yelled. After Ace and the girls were out of sight he started to become impatient. Where was Nami? Had she forgotten or did she get lost? Or had he been ditched? ...why was he thinking this on the first place? It wasn't like him at all; he never thought the downside of things.

"Luffy!" Nami called as she ran to him "Sorry I'm late"

"What took you so long?" Luffy asked with a pout, not being one of those patient people "I've been waiting forever."

"Quit complaining" Nami said, hitting him on the head "So, where are we going?"

"To the amusement park!" Luffy cheered. Nami sweat dropped, but wasn't really surprised. Luffy was the childish type; a trip to the amusement park was actually a pretty obvious choice. Lucky for them the winter seemed to be late this year for it wasn't that cold outside yet; normally the amusement park wasn't even open anymore this time of the year.

"_Well it's not like I mind and Luffy wouldn't be able to concentrate in anything calmer anyway." _she thought. The day would definitely be fun.

XXXXX

Robin was sitting around their kitchen table with Sabo, playing chess with him. She knew that Luffy and Ace hadn't come over to talk about their dates yesterday, but she didn't know what it was they talked about. She did have a feeling that it had something to do with her, though. She knew that if she'd try to get the truth out of Sabo subtly like she usually did it'd take forever, so instead she bluntly asked: "What were you three talking about yesterday?"

Sabo, who was just about to move his knight, stopped his hand in midair, looking at Robin "What?"

"What were you and your brothers talking about yesterday?" she asked, leaning her face on her hand "Surely there was some other reason than their dates."

"N-no, there was not" Sabo denied, returning his attention to the game _"He's stuttering."_

"Did it have something to do with me?" now she got it, the look on Sabo's face was enough of a proof. Even if he tried to deny it now she wouldn't believe him.

"Of course not" Sabo said with a poker face, but the blush on his cheeks gave him away. Robin smirked, asking: "So, what did they say about me? Or was it you that said something you don't want me to know?"

"Can't you just concentrate on the game?" was Sabo's answer, knowing that he had lost this game. He always lost if someone managed to make him nervous in the middle of a game, and Robin was well aware of that. Could it be she did this on purpose?

"...you're a real bitch sometimes" Sabo said with a sigh. Robin smiled, knowing what he meant. It hadn't been her original purpose tough, but at least she'd win

XXXXX

"I'm bored" Luffy said. It was at least tenth time in these five minutes they'd been waiting in line to get the tickets.

"Shut up, will you?" Nami asked, starting to get annoyed. Waiting in line wasn't her favorite way to pass time either but Luffy was making it even harder.

"But this is taking forever" he complained.

"It's our turn soon" Nami said, sighing. She liked Luffy and all, but sometimes he could be annoying as hell... or in fact, he was that most of the time. Why the hell did she like a guy like that?

"_Well he does have some good sides" _Nami thought, but if someone had asked her what they were she wouldn't have known how to answer. She only knew that as annoying as Luffy was, she still liked his company.

"Oi Nami, it's our turn!" Luffy said, snapping Nami out of her thoughts. After buying their tickets they got inside the amusement park.

"Let's go to the roller coaster first!" Luffy yelled, pointing at the place. Nami nodded, but was slightly worried about the long line, which would feel longer than it really was because of Luffy's complaining. It _better_ be worth it.

XXXXX

"I can't believe you slept through the _whole _movie!" Margaret complained to Ace as they and Vivi left the movie theater "It was _so _romantic; how anyone can sleep through it?"

"For your information I was awake the first ten or fifteen minutes" Ace mumbled "And that movie was _so _boring!"

"No, romantic"

"Boring"

"Romantic!"

"Boring!" the two glared at each other before turning their gazes to Vivi who was a little behind them, yelling at the same time: "Vivi, you tell him/her!"

"Uh..." she says, putting her arms in front of her as a mark of surrender "Sorry Ace, but I agree with Margaret."

The blond smirks at the boy who lets out an irritated sigh.

"Girls" he mutters.

"It's not our fault that boys have bad taste in movies, right Vivi?" Margaret asked, making Ace narrow his eyes "What was that?"

Margaret leaned in closer, making Ace take a step back and wonder if Luffy had told her about his fear of women who got too close.

"I said it's not my fault you're an idiot" Margaret said, her face only an inch away from Ace's, who gulped.

"How dare you insult him!?" Ace sighed from both relief and annoyance. This was going to be a _really _long day.

XXXXX

"That was awesome!" Luffy cheered, wondering: "Where should we go next..."

Nami smiled. They'd been going around the park, trying the best ones, such as the roller coasters and the Ferris wheel. She had liked all of those, but paled when Luffy yelled: "Let's go to the haunted house!"

"Ha-haunted house?" she repeated.

"Yeah!"

"H-how about we try the bumper cars first? We haven't been on them yet, right?" Nami asked, trying to avoid going in to the haunted house.

"Okay" Luffy said with a shrug. They still had many hours left; they'd have time for the haunted house later and besides he wanted Nami to have fun. They could do what she wanted first "I'll be there first!"

"Oh no you won't!" Nami disagreed as they raced to the line that led to the bumper cars. Luffy got there first, but Nami wasn't far behind him. They went to the bumper cars four times before Nami said that they should try something else now.

"Let's go to the haunted ho-"

"How about some ice cream?" Nami interrupted, smiling sweetly at him "I'll pay."

"Okay" Luffy said. Food could make him forget everything else, including the haunted house where he still wanted to go to. Nami took one ball of strawberry ice cream while Luffy took one chocolate, one strawberry and one vanilla ball for his ice cream.

"You're going to become fat" Nami told him, but Luffy disagreed.

"No I won't; Chopper said that people don't get fat as long as they move around to burn the entire extra fat in their bodies" he said, adding: "I don't know what that means tough."

Nami laughed. Only Luffy could say something like that and then honestly admit he had no idea what he was saying. She supposed it was part of his natural charm or something... a charm that was way different from his brother's one. As they ate their ice creams Luffy told Nami of all the pranks he and Usopp had pulled on other people, starting from the time they were kids. Normally people didn't do as much pranks when they grew up and neither did Luffy and Usopp it seemed, but their pranks have gotten more creative over the years. While still in the primary school, they'd usually pulled the classics such as putting a pin on the teacher's chair, replacing the chalks with licorice and wetting the sponge without wringing it so when someone took it all the water was on the floor. **(A.N: Raise your hand if you ever did that... well actually, I never did it that way. Teacher told me to go wet the sponge once and I did, but didn't wring it so you can probably guess what happened when I threw it to the teacher and he caught it.) **When they grew up they got smarter (well, Usopp did) and their pranks became more unique. According to Luffy Usopp had once but an air balloon in the faucet of the class and asked a question just when the teacher had opened the tap so he was looking away from the faucet _and_ the growing balloon. The teacher's face had been priceless when the balloon had given out under the pressure and the water had gotten on him.

"Which teacher was it? Is he still in our school?" Nami asked, but Luffy shook his head "Nah, he quit just after few months. The other teachers said he became a wreck or something; I don't even remember his name."

Nami sweat dropped, having an idea about whose fault it was that the teacher had become a wreck. Just how many people had Luffy driven insane in the first place?

"Did you ever pull pranks on your teachers?"

"Not really" Nami answered. She wasn't the prankster type; she was more like steal-your-lunch-money type as a kid. The few rare times she got caught she justified her actions by saying that she only stole from bullies and annoying people. That didn't stop her from getting punished, especially since some of those "annoying people" were teachers.

"Can we go to the haunted house now?" Luffy asked suddenly, but Nami shook her head "I'm still eating."

"You had much less than I did; you're slow" Luffy commented. Nami's eyebrow twisted as she said: "No, I just eat like civilized people do, unlike _someone_."

"Who?" Luffy asked, titling his head which irritated Nami "You of course!"

"Really?" Luffy asked, but shrugged right after. He didn't really care "Can we go to the haunted house after you've eaten?"

Nami sighed, agreeing. It looked like she had no way out...

XXXXX

"Answer my question already: what are you doing here with Ace?"

"None of your business!" Margaret snapped back at Hancock. She, Ace and Vivi had run in to her and her sisters a while ago and now Margaret was loudly arguing with the eldest one while Vivi tried to calm them down. Ace was leaning against a wall, not listening to the girls. He had no intention to join their little cat fight.

"_Right now I'm almost wishing that I would have ended up with one of the guys..." _Ace thought with a sigh; he was _really bad _with women, especially the loud ones. He had to find away to get rid of them. He glanced at Vivi who finally gave up and leaned against the wall next to him. She hadn't been able to calm down the other girls. In Ace's opinion Vivi wasn't so bad, at least when compared to the other girls present. Maybe they could ditch the other four, including Margaret...

"Hey" Ace said, tapping Vivi lightly on the shoulder to get her attention "Let's get out of here."

"Huh?" Vivi questioned, glancing at the other four who weren't paying attention to them at the moment "What about Margaret?"

"Let's ditch her" Ace said. Vivi was about to protest, but didn't when Ace added: "It's her own fault for getting provoked like that by Hancock and her sisters."

"I suppose so..." Vivi said, glancing at Margaret again. She was going to be angry when she found out, but Vivi didn't really like all this either, so "Alright, let's go."

Ace grinned. Victory! He motioned for Vivi to follow and they sneaked away from the four girls silently, well aware that Margaret wouldn't be happy when she found out.

"_Oh well, it's going to be worth it."_

XXXXX

"Why didn't you just _say _you were scared?" Luffy asked as he walked after the furious orange haired woman. She had been shaking the whole time they walked through the haunted house and let out a scream here and there "I could've held your hand if I had known!"

Nami stopped, looking at him oddly. Not that Luffy realized it; he only knew that he had her attention now.

"And what would that have helped?" Nami asked, a slight blush making its way to her face.

"Ace and I did that when we were kids; like when we were watching horror movies." Luffy answered, making Nami sweat drop. Right, of course he meant something like that. He probably didn't even know the word "romantic."

"_Why do I even think about it? It's not like I like him or anything" _Nami assured herself _"He's just one of my friends."_

"Whatever" she said with a sigh "Where next?"

"Chain merry-go-round!" was Luffy's automatic answer. That was fine with her; it was close. They were also lucky for the line wasn't very long, so they decided to use it three times.

"How about we go to the hall of mirrors next?" Nami suggested, making Luffy agree. He had always loved making funny faces in front of those mirrors.

"Hey Nami, you look like Usopp!" Luffy said as he noticed that the mirror Nami was using made her nose look big. Nami laughed, saying: "At least I don't have elephant ears!"

Luffy blinked, looking at his own mirror before laughing.

"Not anymore!" he said, switching to another mirror "Now I'm just fat"

"That's even worse" Nami said with a laugh, adding as twitched mirror: "I look like a toothpick."

"Really?" Luffy asked, glancing at the mirror she was looking at "I don't see any difference to what you usually look like."

Nami hit him on the head for this, although she might have hit a bit too hard.

"Shut up"

XXXXX

"Was it really fair to leave Margaret behind like that?" Vivi asked as she and Ace entered a coffee house.

"Hey, you left her behind as much as I did" Ace defended himself "Besides, what else should we have done? Left and have her following us with Hancock while they argued?"

"No, but we should've... uh..."

"Just admit that we did the right thing" Ace said with a lazy grin "This will teach Margaret to be aware of her surroundings."

"I suppose so..." Vivi said, making Ace smirk. Victory!

"Let's get something to eat" he said "My treat."

"Eh? But you already paid the movies-"

"No buts" Ace interrupted "Isn't it a guy's job to pay everything on a date?"

"That's old-fashioned" Vivi said, crossing her arms.

"I'm an old-fashioned gentleman" Ace said. Vivi didn't say it, but Ace could see the "Yeah right" look on her face "Or at least I'm trying to be."

"It doesn't fit you" Vivi simply said before they ordered something to eat. After choosing a table for them Ace continued their conversation: "Maybe not, but in the profession I was in I had to try."

"Had to?"

"Well, I didn't _have to_, but if I had been acting like an asshole every single gossip magazine would have written about it" he said "It's hard to be a celebrity. Sometimes I actually wish I wouldn't have started as a singer at all."

"I think I know what you mean" Vivi said. Noticing the odd look Ace gave her she explained: "You know, having to watch your every move, for if you do something stupid it will end up in the magazines."

"Yeah well, that too" Ace said, leaning back on his chair "But that's not really what I meant; I don't really care what strangers think of me."

He looked straight ahead, but Vivi knew he wasn't really looking at her.

"The problem was the effect it had on my friends and family, especially my little brother" he told, remembering how it had, although indirectly, led to his and Luffy's fight. Luckily it was all over now.

"You have a brother?" Vivi asked. She hadn't heard of that.

"Two, actually" Ace said "Sabo and Lu-"

Suddenly he shut up, realizing what he had just been about to say. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone about Luffy!

"Hey Luffy's brother's name is Sabo... too..." Vivi trailed off as gears started to turn in her head. Ace felt the sudden urge to start banging his head on the table, but stopped himself. Maybe he could still fix this? That thought flew out of window tough as Vivi gasped.

"_Luffy's gonna be so mad"_

"So you and Luffy are-"

"Yes we are" Ace cut her off "But don't say it out loud."

"Okay" Vivi said, but it bothered her. She had known Luffy for a few years now yet she only recently found out he had a brother and now she found out Ace was his brother too. They weren't really that close, but she wondered why he hadn't told her "Um..."

"Luffy didn't want anyone to know" Ace told, realizing what Vivi wanted to ask "He was afraid it'd make people treat him differently, mainly his friends."

Vivi nodded, more or less understanding why Luffy had feared that. When her father's company went down she too lost some so called friends; they had only been with her because her family was rich. Luffy was good judge of character tough; she doubted he had any close friends like that.

"I don't think he has friends like that... they might get a little angry since you guys didn't tell them, but it probably wouldn't change anything." Vivi told. Ace nodded, understanding her point, but he didn't know his brother's friends well enough to decide if he agreed or not.

"Would you mind keeping quiet about this?" Ace asked, biting down on one of the many donuts he had ordered "Luffy told me not to tell anyone, so..."

"Don't worry; I'll keep my mouth shut" Vivi assured with a smile "It's not like me to go around telling other people's secrets."

"Thanks" Ace said "Luffy would be mad if this got o-"

He didn't finish as his head fell on the table, making Vivi sigh. It seems he fell asleep again.

XXXXX

"I'm hungry" Luffy said as he and Nami got out of the rollercoaster.

"Then we should go eat" Nami said "How about some pizza?"

"Sounds good!"

"Great, you're paying" Nami said, starting to skip towards the pizzeria without waiting for an answer "Let's go."

Luffy frowned, running after her and asking: "Why do I have to pay?"

"Because I paid the ice creams" Nami stated like it was a fact and even Luffy could tell she had planned this.

"But the pizzas cost more" he pointed out. Nami smirked, a smirk that Luffy had learned to be wary of.

"Haven't you ever heard of interest?" she asked "Besides, guys are supposed to treat girls when on date."

"Really?" Luffy asked, thinking for a moment "Now I know why Zoro dates guys; he wouldn't be able to afford dating girls!"

There was three seconds of silence until Nami burst out laughing. The fact that Luffy didn't seem to mean it as a joke but a completely serious statement made it even funnier. Luffy frowned, asking: "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing nothing" Nami assured "Just the fact that you're probably right."

Luffy grinned, glad that he had gotten something right for once.

XXXXX

Kohza was about to enter a coffee house when he heard his phone ring. Taking it out of his pocket he smirked at the name on the screen. He answered it by asking: "Did you find them?"

"_Yep, Ace and Vivi are at the Spinning Donut" _Zoro said from the other end of the line. Kohza chuckled; he and Vivi had always liked that cafeteria "Just the two of them? Where's Margaret?"

"_Don't know, don't care" _Zoro said _"Actually I'm glad we won't need to deal with her."_

Kohza agreed; that woman was a pain in the ass and besides, they didn't need her. Yesterday they had decided to tail down either Luffy and Nami or Ace's group and after realizing that the first two were going in to an amusement park they settled on the later ones. Kohza wanted to stay up to date on what Vivi was up to and Zoro simply wanted to tail Ace for fun. They wouldn't have minded following Luffy and Nami either; it would be good if they had something to blackmail her with later.

"Yeah, me too" Kohza said "I'll be there soon; I'm not that far. Don't let them out of your sight and, even more important, don't let them see you."

"_Yeah, I know" _Zoro said _"See ya."_

XXXXX

"Are you really planning to eat all that by yourself?" Nami asked as the waitress finally brought Luffy his pepperoni and ham family pizza.

"Yeah!" Luffy said while cutting off a piece "Or do you want some? You can have some, but only a little."

"No thanks" Nami said with a sweat drop "I was just wondering if you can actually eat all that."

"It's easy" Luffy said and Nami was surprised by how clearly he talked with his mouth full "I eat a lot."

"I know" Nami said. Had she not known Luffy as long as she had she'd never believe if someone said that he ate a lot; he was almost as skinny as her!

"_Where does all that food go anyway?" _Nami wondered _"If I ate that much I'd be fat as our domestic science teacher!"_

As Nami ate her veggie pizza she kept glancing at Luffy from time to time. He lacked table manners completely and Nami was sure he wasn't even trying to eat politely even though they were in public. He ate with his hands, which wasn't so bad tough since he was eating pizza. There were crumbs all over his face and he ate with his mouth open from time to time, mostly when he had stuffed too much food at once in his mouth. He slurped loudly every time he drank and a few times he had spilled some of the soda on the table.

"_What the hell do I even see in that guy?" _Nami asked herself, sighing. The worst thing was that she really didn't know why, but she had started to like him. And by like she meant the like like, not liking like a friend.

"_Sure he's nice, fun and all but the same can be said about some other guys and yet I don't have a crush on them... ugh, honestly, what do I see in a childish guy like him?" _Nami took another slice of her pizza, looking at Luffy. He wasn't really what she'd call handsome, but not ugly either. He looked... just plain ordinary. He was childish and naïve, but she had seen he also had a serious side. He was pretty stupid, but knowledge wasn't really everything, unless you wanted to be a doctor or something.

"You eat too slowly" Luffy commented as soon as he had finished his pizza.

"No I don't; you just eat too fast" Nami shot back. Luffy was also a bit rude from time to time; she _really _didn't know what she saw in him.

XXXXX

"Ace?"

"Yeah?" Ace asked, glancing at Vivi as they walked.

"Well for a while now I've felt like I'm being watched... and I don't mean by you." the blue haired girl whispered, resisting the urge to turn around and look behind her.

"So you noticed too?" Ace asked, smirking slightly "We've been followed since we left the Spinning Donut."

"What!?" Vivi asked, about to turn around but Ace took a hold of her shoulder before she could do so, whispering: "Don't look."

"Have you seen who it is?" Vivi asked quietly. Ace removed his hand, trusting that Vivi wouldn't turn around.

"No, but I have a few guesses" Ace said "It could be Margaret or Hancock, possibly even both. It wouldn't be that surprising if they have caught up with us."

"I suppose so..."

"It could also be Zoro, following us just for the heck of it" Ace said "But then again he usually hides pretty well and yet you noticed someone was there, so maybe not."

"I see"

"Luffy is also a possibility if Nami dumped him" Ace said with a chuckle. Vivi laughed a little, saying: "Or he could be following us with Nami; she does that kind of things."

"Yeah, that could be the case" Ace agreed, smirking "Should we try to find out who it is?"

"How?" Vivi asked.

"Just follow me" Ace answered, quickening his pace. Vivi followed him and they went around a corner, stopping. Ace motioned Vivi to lean against the wall like he was doing. She did so, understanding what Ace wanted to do. They waited and after a while some blond hair came to view from behind the corner. Ace put his leg out, successfully tripping Kohza, making him land face first on to the ground.

"Kohza!" Vivi yelled, instantly going to her friend's aid "Are you okay?"

"Didn't that go a bit too far?" Zoro asked as he rounded the corner. He hadn't let Kohza take the lead for nothing; he knew Ace would pull off something like this if he noticed them. And to Zoro it wasn't a surprise that he did; Kohza wasn't good at spying. It was definitely his fault that Ace found out in the first place.

"You should have thought of that before following us" Ace said, ignoring the glare Kohza sent him as Vivi helped him up "So, which one of you two got the idea of following us?"

"It was our mutual decision" Zoro said "Although I could tell that Kohza would get us caught sooner or later."

"What?!" the blond said "What makes you think it was _my _fault!?"

"Because this is the first time Ace actually manages to catch me while I'm tailing him" Zoro replied simply with a smirk. Kohza and Vivi exchanged glances before looking at Ace who nodded, although he was a bit annoyed that Zoro had to tell them that.

"I don't even want to know why you've been spying on him" Kohza said "How many times did you got lost while doing that?"

"None!" Zoro said, obviously lying "And it was for fun and blackmail, to be clear."

"Yeah, not that he ever got anything useful" Ace said, but grew nervous when Zoro smirked "...or did you?"

"Who knows" Zoro answered "By the way, where's Margaret?"

"We ditched her" Ace answered "And don't change the subject!"

"What subject?" Zoro asked with a smirk. He yawned, saying: "Since you've already seen me there's no point in staying here; I'm going home."

"Don't run away" Ace hissed, going after Zoro as the swordsman started to walk away "Spit it out!"

"I suppose that ends your date" Kohza told Vivi with a sweat drop "Wanna come over to my house? You haven't been there for a while."

"Sure" Vivi said "So how was your date with Nojiko?"

"Could've been worse; luckily she isn't a bitch like her sister"

"Kohza!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm an asshole"

XXXXX

"See ya tomorrow at school!" Luffy called out as he and Nami parted ways. He had had fun and for a moment he had considered asking Nami out for a real date, but in the end had decided against it. He didn't really know much about such things as dating, so he decided to just wait 'till he found out more. Usually he was the type to do things without thinking, but this was something he really didn't want to mess up and it's not like he was in a hurry; he could ask Nami out when he felt like it. For now he was okay with spending time with her as friends.

And it's not like anyone else has their eyes on Nami (Sanji doesn't count.)

**A.N: Enter OOC Luffy... then again Luffy in love is already OOC in itself, isn't it?**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Vivi's Big Mouth**

"Are you angry, Margaret?" Vivi asked as the blond came over to her and Kaya, looking not too happy.

"Of course I'm angry!" the blond said "How could you two leave me!?"

"Sorry" Vivi said apologetically "But you got provoked by Hancock and we didn't really want to deal with her so... uuh..."

"So you decided to ditch me along with her" Margaret said, sighing "I suppose I can forgive that; it's hard to handle that bitch."

Vivi smiled, but frowned when Margaret asked: "So, did you two have fun when you were alone?"

"We just talked and drank some coffee" Vivi said, knowing what Margaret was getting at "And that too ended fast because Ace took off with Zoro."

Had Vivi known Margaret would understand that the wrong way she would've kept her mouth shut, but she didn't realize that what she said could be understood in a different way that she meant. The day's lunch break was going to be a bit awkward.

XXXXX

"When is it going to snow?" Luffy wondered as he ate lunch on the roof with his friends.

"Good question; it's already late October and yet we're still eating in the roof; last year it would have been way too cold this time of year." Usopp said.

"That reminds me: are you going to keep a Halloween party this year?" Margaret asked.

"Definitely" Sanji answered "But I was thinking that we could try keeping it just between our group this year."

"Why?" Luffy asked with a pout "The more the merrier!"

"As far as I know, we're all low on money" Sanji said "Who's going to pay for the extra food we'd have to buy for a large amount of people?"

"He has a point Luffy" Usopp said. When Luffy still looked like he was about to protest Zoro added his two cents in to the conversation: "Less people means you'll have more to eat."

"Oh!" Luffy realized "Then it's okay!"

The others sweat dropped, but shook it off. They were completely used to this by now.

"Hey guys, did we miss something?" Chopper asked as he sat down with Vivi.

"To put it simply: we'll have a Halloween party next Friday, just our usual group" Sanji said, slapping Luffy's hand away from his lunch box. Nice try, but not enough.

"It means we'll get to eat all the food on our own" Luffy informed the younger two who sweat dropped.

"Are we going trick or treating together this year too?" Chopper asked, receiving nods from Usopp and Luffy "Yeah, but we'll have to do it before the party."

"Are you coming too, Zoro?" Chopper asked hopefully, but his smile fell when Zoro answered: "No"

"Why?" the younger boy asked with teary eyes. Zoro closed his eyes, knowing that if he'd keep them open and look in to Chopper's puppy eyes he'd give in "I just don't want to."

"I bet twenty that in the end he'll give in" Kohza whispered to Nami who smirked, answering: "Deal."

"C'mon Zoro it'll be fun!" Luffy said, making Usopp and Chopper cheer "Still no."

"C'mon Zoro, please!" Chopper pleaded. The others sniggered, noticing that Zoro was starting to sweat. Chopper never realized it, but if you wanted to change Zoro's decision on something, he was your man.

"Don't bother him, Chopper" Usopp said "If he's so afraid of children in Halloween costumes he doesn't need to come."

A vein popped on Zoro's head and the others laughed. Chopper however didn't catch on.

"Is Usopp right, Zoro?" Chopper asked "Are you scared?"

"No" Zoro answered, gritting his teeth.

"Hey there's nothing to be ashamed of" Kohza joined the conversation, his smirk going unnoticed by Chopper "Everyone's scared of something... although you're probably the only one of us that's scared of little kids in Halloween costumes."

"I am _not _scared of little kids in Halloween costumes" Zoro said.

"Okay we believe you" Kohza said "Does that mean you're scared of Usopp in a Halloween costume?"

The others laughed as Zoro glared at Kohza.

"You're so dead" he said. As he prepared to give Kohza a good beating Chopper got between them "Zoro, does this mean you don't want to go trick or treating with me?"

Zoro looked at Chopper, which was a big mistake on his part. Those teary puppy dog eyes... damn it.

"Fine, I'll come" the others laughed as Chopper cheered with Usopp and Luffy. Kohza smirked at Nami who mumbled curses while fishing out a twenty from her school bag.

"He's never known how to say no to Chopper" the blond whispered, making Nami glare at him "And now you tell me."

"What are you two whispering about?" Zoro asked with a frown.

"Nothing" the two chorused, faking innocent. Zoro narrowed his eyes at them, but focused his attention on Usopp as he asked: "So how did your dates go?"

"They ditched me" Margaret growled, glaring at Ace who just laughed.

"Why did you ditch her?" Usopp asked, adding after few seconds: "On the other hand, never mind. I wouldn't have been able to stand her long either if I was you."

"Hey!" Margaret protested "I'm not that bad!"

"Sure you ain't" Kohza said "I've heard a thing or two about the way you acted when you found out that a "famous singer" was coming to our school."

"Famous singer with a fear of girls!" Luffy said, getting a glare from Ace "Luffy..."

"But its true" the straw hat wearing boy said.

"Luffy, don't be rude to your brother" Vivi said. A silence fell and Vivi looked around before realizing her mistake. Before covering her mouth, she mumbled: "Sorry!"

**A.N: Short chapter, I know, but I saw it necessary to stop it to this scene (well not really, I just like to stop at cliffhangers). You guys have been waiting for it, haven't you? It was surprisingly hard to write and it didn't go that well in the end, but I just decided that this will have to do.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Revelations**

"What?" Kohza asked from Vivi, but she looked away. He turned his attention to Ace instead who looked like he couldn't decide if he should start denying what Vivi said or pretend he didn't hear anything. Making his own conclusions Kohza asked: "Guys, is there something we should know?"

"You promised not to tell" was what Ace settled on as he glared at Vivi, who looked down.

"You promised not to tell anyone either, Ace" Luffy said, glaring at his brother.

"It was an accident!" Ace defended himself "And now that you opened your big mouth there's no way we can trick them any longer!"

"You both said too much" Zoro said with a sigh "And how come you ended up telling it to Vivi of all people? Everyone knows she has the bad habit of letting other people's secrets slip."

"And no one told me because?" Ace hissed, but got no answer "If I'd known I would have reminded her not to say anything before we came to eat lunch."

"I really didn't mean to, Ace" Vivi said "It just slipped."

Ace sighed, saying: "Yeah, I know. I didn't expect it to stay as a secret even this long; I was sure Luffy would be the first to accidentally slip something."

"Hey!"

"So... what Vivi said was true?" Usopp asked, voicing everyone's thoughts. Well, everyone's but the brothers' and the three others who knew.

"Why else would Ace be so mad about her slipping it?" Zoro said.

"Why didn't you guys ever tell us?" Margaret said, knowing full well that she wasn't the only one wondering this.

"Didn't see a reason to" Ace said with a shrug "Besides since Luffy hadn't already done so why would I have? Back then you were his friends and not mine."

"Fair enough" Kohza decided, looking at Luffy "And what's your excuse?"

"I didn't think it mattered" Luffy said "Or does it?"

"It's not like anything's changed" Zoro put in "Right, guys?"

"You knew" Sanji realized, pointing an accusing finger at Zoro "You knew, just admit it!"

"Yeah, I knew" Zoro said "And you would've realized it on your own if you'd used your head just a little bit; it's pretty damn obvious, Curly Brow."

"But you two have different last names" Usopp said "Do you two have same dad but different mothers or something?"

"Nah, like I've said I'm an orphan" Ace said "I never even lived with him, but officially I'm adopted by Luffy's dad. Luffy has his last name and I have my mom's."

"I can't believe you kept something like this from your friends Luffy" Usopp said dramatically "As a punishment you'll have to share the candies you'll get from trick and treating in the Halloween party with all of us."

"What!?" Luffy yelled, eyes pulping out "No!"

"Yes you will; that's a suitable punishment" Sanji agreed "Isn't it?"

"Agreed" Kohza said and he wasn't the only one. Luffy pouted, asking: "What about Zoro, Ace and Nami? They knew too."

"Don't say my name" Nami hissed, hitting Luffy. Kohza looked at her in disbelief, asking: "You knew too?"

"Yeah, I happened to overhear Luffy and Ace talking" she admitted, crossing her arms "But I don't owe you guys anything for it, so don't you even try, Usopp."

Usopp had been about to say a suitable punishment, but Nami's glare shut him up. It wasn't worth the trouble.

"What about Ace and Zoro?" Luffy insisted, not wanting to be the only one punished "Zoro should share his candies too!"

"Agreed" Sanji said "Your punishment's set, Marimo."

"Whatever, Curly Brow" Zoro said "What about Ace?"

"We could force him on a date with Hancock" Luffy said with a laugh, getting hit by his horrified older brother "Like hell you will!"

"That would be a bit too cruel" Zoro disagreed "But the idea is good. How about Margaret instead?"

"Still too cruel" Kohza said, wincing at Margaret's loud protests. Ace however, nodded. Still too cruel.

"You aren't eating any candy in the Halloween party" Luffy suddenly decided. The others were about to protest, but decided it was good enough when they saw Ace's pained face.

"You guys can't be serious" Ace said "The only reason I didn't tell anyone is 'cause Luffy told me not to."

"Why did he do that?" Usopp asked, looking at his friend who started to whistle as innocently as he could "No reason."

"Guys, what does it matter? You know it now" Zoro said. Like he had thought, the others seemed to be more upset about the fact that Luffy hadn't told them than the fact that Ace was his brother. However, he felt like he should put a stop to this before Luffy got the wrong idea about why they were a bit mad.

"Yeah yeah, whatever" Kohza said "Any other secrets we should know about before Vivi slips them?"

Luffy and Ace looked at each other, which made the others realize that yes, there was still something and they were silently wondering if they should tell the others or not.

"Spit it out guys" Margaret said "We can tell there's still something you're not telling us!"

The brothers looked at each other for a while more before Luffy gave in: "The principal is my grandpa."

A silence followed as the others stared at him in shock, eyes wide. Zoro was among them, although he had had his doubts, but hearing it directly from Luffy was quite shocking.

"That was just a really bad joke, right?" Usopp asked, laughing nervously, but the brothers just shook their heads. No joke.

"...well it does explain some things" Sanji muttered, remembering how Luffy always sneaked off when the principal came close "And now that I think about it; you two do have things in common."

"No we don't" Luffy disagreed.

"Yes you have" Kohza said "You and him are both brain dead."

Kohza expected the others to burst out laughing but when they didn't he knew something was wrong.

"Please don't say that..."

"Fine, we won't" Zoro said. Kohza face palmed, making as innocent face as he could as he turned around, saying: "Good afternoon, principal Garp."

"Afternoon to you too, Kohza" Garp said, tapping his foot to the roof "Now, who did you say was brain dead?"

"Teacher Shanks" the answer was automatic, the one person he had learned to insult in front of the principal. The name had saved him more than once in these kinds of situations. Garp nodded, accepting the answer "I agree; he's bad influence to all of you."

The students sweat dropped, all of them thinking that if someone were bad influence it was the principal himself. Luckily none of them, not even Luffy, was stupid enough to say so in his face.

"Well then, you kids continue with your lunches, I have work to do" Garp said with a laugh, heading back to his office. The students sweat dropped as they watched after their laughing principal.

"What did he come here for anyway?" Zoro asked.

"Beats me" Ace said "So, what were we talking about again before Vivi's slip up?"

"Your dates" Usopp reminded "How did they go?"

"Well enough" Kohza said with a shrug, knowing that no one would bother to ask him much since they all knew he wasn't interested in Nojiko in the lightest. As long as Zoro or Sanji didn't slip anything about the switch he was on clear waters.

"You're as boring as always" Zoro said, deciding to not say anything about the switch either. Turning his attention to Luffy he asked: "And you two?"

"We went to the amusement park" Luffy said, giving a small glare to Nami "And Nami tricked me to pay for her food."

"It's a man's job to pay everything on a date" Sanji said simply. Nami nodded, saying: "That's what I said."

"That's unfair" Luffy reasoned.

"And old fashioned" Kohza pointed out.

"Nah, just simply stupid" Zoro added. The guys, aside from Sanji, agreed.

"You guys are just brutes with no manners" he told "A true gentleman never lets a lady pay."

"Agreed" Margaret said "So, how did your date go after you ditched me?"

"You guys seriously ditched her?" Usopp asked "Ace, you're no gentleman!"

The others laughed and Ace just rolled his eyes.

"But she said that later Ace ditched her too and went off with Zoro" Margaret told. Everyone turned to look at Ace who was once again glaring at Vivi "Did you have to say it that way? You do realize what it sounds like, don't you?"

Vivi blinked before realizing her mistake "Oh" she let out "I didn't mean it like _that_!"

"You're the queen of slip ups and misunderstandings" Zoro said with a roll of his eyes "Do you even understand the word `secret´?"

"She's as familiar with the word as you are with sense of direction" Usopp said, making the others laugh as the green haired man yelled: "Shut up!"

**A.N: Ahem, yeah, I just couldn't come up with a good way to end this chapter, so I just leave it here. Next we have the Halloween... which reminds me: **_**how **_**do people usually celebrate it? I mean I've never really celebrated Halloween and am curious how it's done in other countries. But that doesn't mean I don't know what I'll write for the next chapter 'cause I do... for the most part anyway.**

**And another thing: do any of my readers write a blog? If so, then about what? I've started to read blogs lately but usually lose interest in the ones I read pretty soon since they're not as good as I originally thought and jump from one subject to another... but I'm the last person to complain about that.**


	32. Chapter 32

**A.N: Sorry it took so long! I was positive I'd get this done by Halloween but well, seems like I didn't... also I can't believe how I could forget that I've actually been in to three or four Halloween parties a couple years back... really, how can I forget something like that? I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up one morning and had forgotten my name. Anyway, I also forgot the whole costume thing and remembered it way too late, so there won't be any funny costumes on this chapter... yeah I suck, I know.**

**Chapter 32: This Is Halloween, Part 1**

"Do you guys have everything ready?" Usopp asked as he prepared for trick or treating with his friends. After receiving three nods he continued: "Good. We'll split the neighborhood in half and both halves are handled by two people. Chopper and Zoro, take the Eastern side so Luffy and I can take the Western. Any questions?"

"Why are you the one deciding everything?" Zoro asked. He didn't really mind; in his opinion this whole trick or treat thing was stupid, but it did annoy him when Usopp, or anyone else for that matter, bossed him around.

"Because Luffy's too dumb, Chopper a kid and you're not interested enough." Usopp replied. Luffy and Chopper laughed, but the straw hat wearing teen still hit his friend on the head for the insult.

"Whatever" Zoro said. The long nose did have a point "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, let's go" Usopp said "And Zoro east is in that direction, which means you'll have to go there."

"I know that" Zoro said and started to walk towards west "What did I just tell you!?"

"Zoro east is this way" Chopper said, starting to push Zoro in the right direction "You were going towards west."

"What?" Zoro asked "Damn you Usopp; you showed me the wrong direction!"

"No I didn't; you went to the wrong direction on your own!" Usopp yelled "I wouldn't be surprised if you someday get lost in your own room!"

Zoro was very annoyed by this, but Chopper tugging on his arm stopped him from attacking Usopp.

"Zoro, let's go" the boy said, making _the face _again. Zoro just couldn't fight against it and so Usopp got to live for another night.

XXXXX

"Oi, Sand head, get the door!" Sanji yelled to Kohza from the kitchen as the doorbell rang.

"Don't boss me around!" Kohza yelled back but got up and went to the door anyway, letting Nami in "You could have just walked in, you know."

"There's a thing called manners, you know" she shot back at the blond, making him roll his eyes "Is Vivi here yet?"

"Nah, she's coming with Kaya" Kohza told, making his way to the living room "Margaret is already here, tough."

"Nami-swan let me take your coat!" Sanji called out, coming over. Kohza's eyebrow twisted. If he was going to come over anyway why couldn't he open the damn door?

"Thanks, Sanji-kun" Nami said, giving the blond her goat "Are Luffy and the others still trick or treating?"

"Yeah, the kids are playing around" Kohza said "Aren't they too old for trick or treating?"

"One's never too old for some fun, yohoho" Nami nearly jumped as she heard this, having not noticed the skinny old man get in from the front door with Franky. It was Brook who she had met in the last party "Wouldn't you agree, Franky-san?"

"Of course, you can have su~per fun no matter what age you are!" Franky replied, doing his signature pose. Nami sweat dropped, but didn't do anything. Vivi had said that she should just ignore it every time she saw that, and that was exactly what she was going to do. As she sat down on the couch she asked from Kohza: "What's the difference between the Halloween party and their usual parties?"

"There isn't really much difference" Kohza told "Last year there was just more candy than usual and Usopp, Sanji and Brook were telling ghost stories, freaking the hell out of Chopper and Vivi. Other than that I don't recall any big differences."

"Not that it's a big surprise" Margaret put in "Because Luffy takes any chance he gets to throw a party."

"True" Kohza said as the doorbell rung again "Ah crap. Just so you know, I ain't going."

"I get it" Franky said, leaving Brook in to the living room with the others. When he came back Ace was with him as well as Vivi and Kaya.

"I ran in to these two on my way here" the narcoleptic explained "Is Luffy back from trick or treating yet?"

"We're back!"

"Well, speak of the devil" Kohza said with a sigh "There's your answer."

They watched as Luffy raced in to the living room with Chopper and Usopp right behind him. Zoro followed soon after, yawning and walking lazily. He needed a nap and something to drink.

"We got lots and lots of candy!" Luffy announced "Right guys?"

"Yeah, lots and lots!" Usopp and Chopper confirmed, showing their haul.

"Nice, don't forget you'll have to share them with the rest of us" Kohza reminded Luffy, making him to go sulk in to a corner.

"What's that about?" Franky asked as he tossed his pants in the corner of the room. Pants were uncomfortable; he never wore them at home.

"Well it turned out that those two" Usopp started, pointing at Ace and Luffy "Are actually brothers and as a punishment for not telling us we decided that Luffy should share his candies with everyone and that Ace couldn't eat any today."

"Okay..." Franky said with a sweat drop.

"Anyone up for karaoke?" Margaret asked out of nowhere. Kohza groaned, saying: "Hopefully you aren't; you suck."

"What was that?!" Margaret asked. The night went on with karaoke, laughter, arguing, candy and lots of good food until Usopp turned off the karaoke machine and told it was time for ghost stories.

"Gh-ghost stories?" Chopper asked, trembling "I don't wanna hear any!"

"Then why did you come to a Halloween party anyway?" Kohza asked "Sissy."

"Just leave him alone; he doesn't have to listen if he doesn't want to" Zoro said "Neither do you Vivi."

Everyone turned to look at Vivi who looked almost as nervous as Chopper.

"Looks like we got another chicken here" Kohza said with a smirk.

"No, I´m okay" Vivi said, but her wavering tone gave off her nervousness "I don't mind ghost stories."

"Sure you don't" Kohza said with a snort.

"Don't worry Vivi" Kaya comforted the blue haired girl "Usopp's stories are never scary."

"Ghost stories and such are _supposed to _be scary" Nami reminded "So, who's going to start? Or should I? I'll charge 10 beries per story per person."

"You ain't telling any" Kohza was quick to decide and the others agreed. Nami shrugged, saying: "It was just one option."

"I know a good one!" Luffy yelled suddenly, causing everyone to look at him.

"You know ghost stories?" Sanji asked in disbelief. Who would have guessed?

"It's a horror story" Luffy corrected.

"Even better" Zoro said "We're on all ears."

"It was a dark and stormy night" Luffy started, making Zoro snort. Even Luffy knew the clichés.

"Young man woke up in the middle of the night, feeling hungry. Knowing that when he was hungry he should eat, so he went to kitchen. He walked through the dark room, opening the fridge door. When he looked inside he screamed."

Usopp and Chopper gulped, fearing how the story would go on.

"Because all the meat was gone!" a deadly silence fell in to the room. The others didn't know if they should laugh at Luffy's stupid horror story or be mad that he wasted their time with that. Most of them settled on the first option.

"The hell was that?!" Zoro managed to ask while laughing.

"You call that a horror story?" Kohza asked "Even Vivi would do better!"

"It is a horror story!" Luffy protested with a pout "All the meat was gone; it's horrifying!"

"Sure sure" Nami said "Does anyone have a _real _horror story?"

"I happen to know one, if anyone's interested" Ace said.

"This better not be another story about missing food" Nami said and Ace shook his head "Nope."

"Well spit it out then" Kohza said. Ace smirked, starting his story: "Long, long ago there was a small town far off in the west. Despite it being small it was still very wealthy. However, the mayor of another not so well off town became more and more jealous of this town and it's happy inhabitants, so one day he hired a small but deadly group of criminals to get rid of the town and it's wealth. In the dark of the night those seven people-"

"Only seven?" Usopp asked with a raised eyebrow and got hit by Nami for interrupting "Continue."

"Right. Like I said, in the dark of the night seven people snuck in to the village-"

"Didn't you say town?" Kohza asked smirking innocently as Ace gave him a glare "Do you guys have to keep interrupting me?"

"Who cares about little things like that" Margaret said "Please continue, Ace."

"Yeah so the seven of them snuck in to the _town, _going to separate directions. Some of them set fires, some started commotion by breaking windows or anything that was on their path. There was also this one man, the most feared one, their leader, who went off on his own. He didn't take part in to setting fires or breaking things. Instead, he mercilessly slaughtered people. Men and women, old and young, anyone who crossed his path. One of them was a young, beautiful woman. She was the town's scapegoat, about the only one who didn't have a comfy life. When the murderer came across her he decided, for one reason or another, to torture her first. When he had her cornered he broke her arms before taking out his knife, cutting pieces from the woman's arms, enjoying her screams of horror and pain." Ace paused for a while as he let his eyes travel over everyone's faces. All of them were more or less disturbed, except Zoro who had heard the story once before _"Looks like he got it..."_

"And then?" Usopp asked, gulping. Ace smirked, continuing: "And then comes the disturbing part. The pieces that he cut off from her arms, can you guess what he did to those?"

"I don't wanna know!" Chopper decided, covering his ears, making Ace chuckle.

"Why don't you tell us?" Kohza asked. Ace smirked, once again continuing his story: "With a sinister grin, he forcefully fed the bloody pieces of flesh to the very same woman whose arms he had cut them from."

He paused again, listening to the sounds of disgust before continuing: "Eventually the young woman came to her limit. Not wanting to suffer any longer, she bit off her tongue."

"Ack, where did you come up with something so disgusting?" Sanji asked.

"It's not over yet" Ace told "No one knows if it is because of the woman's hate towards her hometown, her killer or both... or possible even her love for the town, but her soul never reached either heaven or hell. Instead, it stayed on earth, haunting people. Even in these days, far off in the west, they sometimes find bodies with broken, bloody arms. There has been an eyewitness, who told about a young woman without arms, blood dripping from her mouth. The armless woman grows arms out of the ground and her victims' bodies, pinning them down before breaking their arms. She slices them up with her sharp nails before biting off her victims' tongues with a kiss. Three days after telling this, the eyewitness had done a suicide, or so they say, by biting off his tongue. So if you ever go to the west, be aware of this dangerous ghost woman."

"That's horrible" Kaya said.

"It was a horror story, it's _meant to be _horrible" Kohza said "Try to outdo that one, long nose."

"I will I'm the king of stories after all" Usopp said, but he did have his doubts that he might not be able to outdo Ace's story "Dim the lights please."

"Super idea; we should've done that earlier" Franky said as he moved to turn out most of the lights "Creates the right atmosphere."

"Okay, I'll start now!" Usopp announced, clearing his throat "Once upon a time there was a-"

"A horror story Usopp, not a fairytale" Zoro put in, making the others laugh.

"Shut up!" Usopp hissed "So, once upon a time there was a little girl, living with her parents and older brother. They were a happy family until one day the parents and the girl got in to a car crash. The parents died, but the girl survived. However, thanks to the trauma, her mind fell to the level of a two year old. Three months later her brother became tired of taking care of her, so he came up with a fatal plan. He took her sister to the woods, chopping her head off with an axe. Since the girl had been carrying her favorite stuffed bunny, her brother cut off one of its paws as a memory of his sister. After her brother had left, the girl's spirit rose from the body, swearing to revenge her brother. The spirit started to look around for her brother in the woods she was murdered. She appeared in front of campers, asking: "Have you seen the paw of the bunny?" and whatever they answered, she killed them by slitting their throats. She's still hunting those woods today."

"Pretty good, I'll give you that, but it's no match for Ace's story" Margaret said "Right guys?"

"Agreed" Sanji said "Besides, I feel like I've heard that paw story somewhere..."

"I'll go get something to drink" Vivi decided "Feel free to start another story without me if you want."

"She wanted to get away because she was scared by the stories, didn't she?" Zoro asked.

"Yep, that's Vivi for you" Nami said with a chuckle.

XXXXX

When Vivi went in to the kitchen, she didn't turn the lights on. She knew she'd get to hear about it from Kohza later if she did. Okay, she was a bit scared of dark, especially after hearing disturbing ghost stories, but so what? But no, putting the light on wouldn't be worth all the teasing she'd get from Kohza and possibly Nami too. She went over to the fridge to get a soda, but froze in her drags as she opened the door. There, in the middle of the fridge, was a hand. After it pointed at her, she screamed.

"What happened!?" Kohza asked, coming to her side only few seconds after her scream. The others weren't far behind either.

"The-there, in the fridge! A ha-hand...!"

"Huh?" Kohza said, looking in to the fridge before laughing "Vivi, it's just a rubber glove."

He took the pink glove out of the fridge to show it to the others, who laughed as well.

"Why was it in the fridge?" Nami asked.

"Beats me" Sanji said, looking at Luffy "Do you know something about this?"

"Nope" he said. Sanji dropped the subject, knowing that Luffy couldn't lie. If he had put it there he would have been caught just now.

"But I saw it move" Vivi told. The others stared at her for a while before Usopp said: "You know Ace, it seems your story was a bit _too _good."

"Looks like it" he said, scratching his head "Sorry about that."

"But it really did move!" Vivi protested.

"Maybe there was a mouse?" Margaret suggested.

"In a fridge?" Kohza asked "I doubt it. It would be a different story if we were talking about a closet or something."

"No it wouldn't" Sanji said, offended "There are no mice in my kitchen."

KNOCK KNOCK

"Did you guys hear that?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, someone's at the door" Sanji said with a sigh as he walked to open it "Why not to just ring the doorbell..."

"Huh?" Sanji said as he opened the door but saw no one "Shitty pranksters..."

As soon as he closed it and turned to walk away, someone knocked again. A vein popping on his head he opened the door again, but no one was there.

"What are you doing?" Nami asked as she reached Sanji.

"Some shitty kids are probably messing with us" he said with a sigh, closing the door. After a few seconds a knock sounded again. Sanji grit his teeth, saying: "Pretend you don't hear anything."

When he and Nami got to the living room where the others were waiting, they saw all the cushions and pillows that had been there put in to one big bile.

"...is there a reason for that?" Nami asked.

"We don't know" Zoro said "They were like that when we got here from the kitchen."

"Someone's messing with us" Sanji summed up "And if it's not one of you guys, then that means someone else is here."

"A g-ghost?" Chopper asked.

"Ghosts don't exist" Kohza said "And it doesn't seem to be a thief either..."

"Probably one of us, no one just admits it" Nami said with a sigh "Whatever; it's not like a little trick like this would scare anyone."

"Do you guys know what we should do since someone so generously piled up the pillows?" Usopp asked with a smirk, taking the one on the top.

"What?" Kaya asked before Usopp hit her with a pillow.

"A pillow fight!" Luffy cheered, causing everyone to act fast. They took pillows and started attacking the nearest person right after.

"I feel like I was in kindergarten again..." Kohza complained. That however didn't stop him from joining forces with Zoro to beat the hell out of Sanji.

"So you're playing beat the cook, huh?" Franky asked "I'll join you!"

"Shitty bastards!" Sanji yelled, trying to block attacks from all three with not so good results. The brothers on the other hand had ganged up against Usopp, laughing at his poor attempts to defend himself. Bet he was regretting the idea now. It surprised and even scared everyone as the lights suddenly went off completely.

"What happened?" Vivi asked fearfully, clinking on the arm of the nearest person.

"A fuse probably broke" Franky said "Anyone has a flashlight? I'm gonna check it out."

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned, taking the flashlight.

"Thanks" he said as he flicked it on. After Franky left it didn't take long for the lights to come back on. When he came back he said: "Someone's definitely messing with us."

"How so?" Nami asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The fuse didn't brake; someone turned off the power" Franky explained "And as far as I know we were all here at the time; meaning there's someone else in the house."

"A ghost!?" Chopper asked, but Nami shook her head "Ghosts don't exist."

"It can't be a thief either; one wouldn't let us know that he's here" Sanji said "Someone's messing with us, and we sure as hell have to find that shitty guy and teach him a lesson!"

"What makes him so sure it's a guy?" Nami asked from the nearest person, who happened to be Kaya.

"He just is like that" she said.

"Okay, let's split up and find that bastard" Kohza said "I'll check from outside."

"I'll come too" Zoro said, telling the others "Make sure nobody moves around alone, just to be safe."

"O-oi Zoro, are you saying it's not just a prankster?" Usopp asked fearfully, clutching the arm of annoyed Sanji.

"We can't know for sure until we see who it is" the blonde said, shaking the long nose off "The sooner we get moving the sooner we'll find out who it is. Let's go."

XXXXX

Luffy and Nami were checking the cellar to see if anything was wrong. Nami had been scared, not that she'd admit it, and though she'd be safe with Luffy. In a way she didn't doubt it now either, but she hadn't realized that Luffy was the type who'd want to check the scary places.

"_Ugh, why didn't I go with Sanji?" _she thought bitterly, knowing that unlike Luffy the blond would have listened her and wouldn't have gone to the cellar. She looked around fearfully, walking right behind Luffy, hands on his shoulders ready to use him as a shield if something happened.

"You don't have to be scared you know" Luffy said suddenly. He turned around, grinning: "Sabo once told me that ghosts aren't solid, so they can't hurt anyone."

"Idiot, ghosts don't exist!" Nami hissed "There's definitely someone here, but it's not a ghost."

"Has anyone ever proved that ghosts don't exist?" Luffy asked.

"Huh?" Nami said "Well, no but-"

"Then we can't know for sure, right?" Luffy said with a grin. Nami sighed, giving up. This was not her day...

XXXXX

"What was that!?"

"The wind, Chopper, just the wind" Sanji assured with a sigh as they walked through the hallway of the second floor with Margaret.

"Do you have to freak out about everything?" Margaret asked the youngest of the group.

"But ghosts are scary!" Chopper said.

"There's no ghost Chopper, it's just a thief, prankster or something like that" Sanji told "And whatever it is, I'll kick his ass!"

"Exactly, so quit whining" Margaret said "At this rate you'll make us... nervous... too..."

Her voice got quieter at the end as she concentrated on staring in from the door Sanji had opened, seeing something white moving on the other side of the room.

"What is it, Margaret-chan?" Sanji asked, looking in to the room together with Chopper. The man's eyes widened and the two younger ones yelled: "A ghost!"

The sight shocked Sanji too, but after a moment he was able to see clearly and knew it wasn't a ghost.

"There's no ghost" he said walking in to the room "See?"

Sanji took a hold of the so called ghost, which turned out to be a white curtain moved by the wind from the open window behind it.

"Oh" Margaret said blushing "Right, I knew that..."

"But this window shouldn't have been open" Sanji said as he closed it "The one who opened it was probably the same person who turned the power off... and was at the door."

"So whoever it is broke in through that window?" Margaret asked, but Sanji shook his head "I doubt it; this is the second floor after all and..."

"And?" Margaret asked, but Sanji shook his head "No, it's nothing."

There was no use in scaring them; especially since he wasn't sure, but he had a feeling they had more than one intruder.

XXXXX

"Quit pushing, Usopp" Ace said as they checked Luffy's room on the first floor with Vivi.

"Sorry" the long nose said. He was walking right behind Ace, ready to use him as a shield. Vivi was beside him, looking almost as scared "Do you see anything?"

"Anything out of ordinary?" Ace asked "I suppose not, I mean the room's a mess but that's to be expected since its Luffy's, right?"

"Yeah" Usopp admitted "So nothing's here. Let's-"

He stopped when he heard a thud.

"W-what was that?" he asked, hiding behind Ace.

"I think it came from over there" Vivi said, pointing at Luffy's closet.

"Well then let's see what-"Ace stopped suddenly, falling face first on to the floor.

"Ace?!" Usopp asked, almost panicking before he heard faint snoring "Oh right; his nar- something."

"Narcolepsy" Vivi reminded "Can you help me to turn him over? He could suffocate like that."

"Right" Usopp said. Neither of them wasn't really what you'd call strong, but turning one guy on his back wasn't an impossible task "So uh... what do we do about the closet?"

"Aren't you a man, Usopp?" Vivi said "So shouldn't you go and see..."

"What? No way!" Usopp disagreed "Rock paper scissors?"

"No" Vivi refused. She was really bad at that game "Let's go together, okay?"

"Right... you go first; I'll be right behind you" the long nose said. Vivi sighed, walking to the closet. Gulping, she opened the door. Nothing.

"Maybe it came from somewhere else after all" Vivi said, turning to face Usopp. She frowned as she saw the long nose's pale face "What?"

"Be-behind you" Usopp stuttered, pointing at the closet. Vivi paled, slowly turning her head to face whatever Usopp was afraid of. The sight of the arms coming out of the wall covered in red was what made her let out a scream heard in the whole house.

**A.N: This wasn't supposed to be in two parts, this whole Halloween thing, but then I thought it'd be more or less interesting to end the chapter here. The next chapter will probably be much shorter than this, but I'll try to get it done as fast as possible... and about the horror stories: Luffy and Ace's were made up by me just for this story, but Usopp's... I'm not sure where and when I heard it, but just so you know it's not made up by me. And about the pink rubber cloves: I have a faint memory of Sanji using those in some episode while he washed dishes... I might be wrong though.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: This Is Halloween, Part 2**

The first one to rush in to Luffy's room after hearing Vivi's scream was Franky, for he had been closest as he had sat in the living room with Kaya and Brook.

"What happened!?" he asked, stopping at the doorway. Ace was still lying on the floor, snoring. Usopp had fallen over in shock, still pointing at the closet and Vivi stood in front of him, frozen in shock. Franky looked at the closet Usopp was pointing at, and the sight caught him of guard too.

"What the...?"

"What's going on!?"

"Did you find the ghost!?" Nami and Luffy yelled at the same time as they got to the door.

"Oi!" Sanji called, arriving to the scene with Margaret and Chopper "What happened?!"

"I-in the c-closet" Vivi mumbled, not taking her eyes off of the hands. The others looked too and Nami, along with Chopper and Margaret, let out a scream. Sanji's mouth dropped open, but he didn't scream. Unlike the others, Luffy wasn't scared. Instead he just yelled: "Awesome!"

"Wait a second..." Franky muttered, going closer to the closet "I've definitely seen something like this before!"

He poked one arm a few times before it slapped his hand away. He laughed, finally realizing what was going on.

"Okay Nico Robin, you got us super good, now come out wherever you're hiding!" he called out, getting everyone's attention on himself. What? An arm suddenly appeared under the window, opening it. A few seconds later it disappeared and the raven haired woman gracefully slipped in from the now open window.

"Looks like I've been found out" Robin said with a small laugh, her ice blue eyes scanning every person in the room "It seems you have quite a party going on in here."

"Yeah we do, but you do realize how badly you scared the kids, don't you?" Franky said with a frown "Not super at all."

"Yeah Robin, that wasn't nice!" Chopper yelled, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Had it been anyone else Robin would just have brushed it off with a quick laugh and apology, but this was Chopper. The little guy always managed to melt her heart. She walked over, patting Chopper's head.

"I'm sorry Chopper; I won't do it again" she assured.

"You bet you won't; you scared us half dead!" Margaret yelled as she recovered from the shock "And who's gonna carry that passed out long nose back to the living room? It won't be me that's for sure!"

"Just leave him there" Franky said "He and the singer can come after us when they wake up; let's go back to the living room."

"Agreed; it's not like we need them" Sanji said "Say, Robin-chan, isn't that a power from the devil's drug?"

"It is"

"Then you were doing all the pranks, on your own, alone?" Sanji asked. It wouldn't be hard for her with the drug.

"I did do everything on my own, but I didn't come alone" Robin told, a small smile creeping to her face "My companion is waiting outside, possibly talking with Zoro at the moment. And I have to confess that this wouldn't have worked so well if Ace hadn't told you all the horror story I came up with."

"He was in this!?" Nami asked "He's so dead..."

"Should we arrange him on a date with Hancock as a punishment?" Luffy asked.

"For once you say something smart" Nami said with an evil smirk, high fiving with Luffy.

"Does it mean you didn't catch on, Luffy?" Robin asked "Sabo and I did this to you, Ace and Zoro once before."

"You knew too?" Margaret hissed, glaring at Luffy.

"He probably didn't realize it" Nami said "If he had he would've definitely slipped up something."

"Nami-san is right" Sanji said "Besides, Luffy has an attention span of a toddler; it's no wonder he didn't remember." 

Luffy frowned. Pointing at Sanji he turned to Robin, asking: "Is he insulting me?"

"Yes" the others, including Sanji himself, chorused.

"More like stating the facts" said Ace who had just woken up from the floor. The others glared at him; he was so going to get it later.

XXXXX

Everyone aside from Zoro, Kohza and Sabo were now in the living room since Ace had carried the still unconscious long nose, waiting for the three guys to arrive.

"I can't believe even the marimo was in this" Sanji muttered, gritting his teeth "He's dead the second I see him."

"Who's dead?" Zoro asked as he came to the living room, Kohza and Sabo behind him "Besides, I wasn't in it, I just happened to realize what was going on during Ace's story."

"And yet you said nothing to the rest of us" Nami said with a glare, but Zoro just rolled his eyes.

"It's Halloween and besides, why would have I ruined the fun?"

"He has a point" Ace said, but shut up after receiving glares. This was his doing in the first place, so maybe he should just shut up...

"Whatever" Sanji said, moving his attention to Sabo "And who the hell are you?"

"The name's Sabo, I am Luffy's older brother" Sabo said with a bow, tipping his top hat "It's nice to meet you."

"And bang, your position as the "gentleman of the group" has been challenged" Kohza whispered to Sanji who shot him a glare "Shut it, Sand head."

"Why didn't you guys say you were coming?" Luffy asked, adding with a frown "And why did Ace know but I didn't?"

"Because you wouldn't have been able to keep the secret" Zoro said "Deal with it."

Luffy frowned and Nami could almost see how the light bulb above his head suddenly turned on.

"But they didn't tell you either" Luffy pointed out to Zoro "Does that mean they think you wouldn't have been able to keep the secret either?"

"..." Zoro didn't answer. Instead he turned his attention to Sabo, asking: "Why wasn't I told about this?"

"I thought Ace told you" the blond said, but the freckle faced man said in return: "And I thought you did it."

"You guys are hopeless" Zoro said with a sigh.

"Why are we just standing around?" Luffy asked suddenly "This is supposed to be a party!"

"Agreed!" Ace said "Should we wake Usopp?"

"Just leave it; he wakes up when he wakes up" Zoro said "Time for round two in pillow fight?"

"Ready for a beating, Lu?" Sabo asked as he picked up a pillow. Ace laughed, doing the same.

"How about we just beat up the three who caused this mess?" Nami asked. The brothers paled as they saw the others smirk, clearly liking Nami's idea.

"Well shit" Ace said as he and Sabo did their best to defend themselves. Robin on the other hand was doing quite well; after all the drug gave her multiple pairs of arms to defend herself with.

Even though Luffy had to share his candies with the others, he still had a great Halloween. He had food, his friends and his brothers. What else would he need?

"_And I have her too"_

**A.N: Yeah, it was Sabo and Robin. I shouldn't have made it so obvious... damn, I'm never able to fool you guys. And here we have the Halloween; you guys were probably waiting for something better but well, yeah... I try to make the Christmas and New Year chapters better than this. Naturally I'm also curios how my readers spent them. Do you celebrate your Christmas with family or friends? What do you eat? Do you open the presents on Christmas Eve or day? Any family traditions? What about New Year? What do you do and with who?**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: Christmas Presents**

Time flew by fast and it was already December fifteenth. There was lot of snow outside and it was way too cold to be eating on the roof, so Luffy's little gang could be found from the said boy's class.

"What are you guys going to do on Christmas?" Ace asked, munching on his apple.

"Nojiko and I will go back to our home village" Nami said "But we'll probably come back before New Year to spend it here."

"Mine and Vivi's families will spend the Christmas together, like every year" Kohza said. Their fathers were good friends and this tradition had been going on over ten years already.

"I'll go to the dojo; I suppose" Zoro said with a sigh as he remembered a certain swordswoman "Christmas is supposed to be peaceful..."

"You can come to spend the Christmas at my place like Luffy does, my caretaker won't mind" Ace said, but soon corrected himself "Or actually she will, but it won't matter. That hag hates everyone anyway."

"You lack manners as badly as Luffy" Sanji said "I'll spend the Christmas in the restaurant I work at."

"I'll just be at home with my family" Margaret said "And Kaya's coming over this year."

"Does this mean we can't throw a Christmas party?" Luffy asked.

"I'm surprised you realized it on your own" Kohza said "We'll just have to make the New Year's party even better. Problem solved."

"But two's always better than one" Luffy pointed out with a pout.

"Haven't you ever heard of quality?" Sanji asked.

"Then let's have two great parties" Luffy said.

"Quality in numbers, huh?" Ace asked "Not a bad idea, but I think most of us will want to be with our families in Christmas, so I suppose it won't work."

"Exactly, so give up Luffy" Kohza said "This Christmas you'll have to do with just driving your family crazy instead of us."

"Sorry, but we're all immune to it already" Ace said with a chuckle "And I think Zoro's too."

"I'd be dead already if I wasn't immune" the swordsman agreed.

"Why are you guys insulting me again?" Luffy asked with a frown.

"Because you're easy to insult" Kohza replied simply.

"Can't we just talk about Zoro's bad sense of direction?" Luffy asked, making the others laugh.

"Oi!" Zoro protested "My sense of direction is perfectly fine!"

"Yeah, you just lost it long time ago" Usopp said, making the others laugh.

"Usopp, I swear that someday I'll break that unnaturally long nose of yours" Zoro muttered with a glare, making the long nose gulp.

"A-anyway" he started, wanting to change the subject "What will we do about the Christmas presents?"

"Since we won't be having a Christmas party that might be a problem" Sanji said. Glancing at Usopp he said: "But it seems you have an idea."

"Of course I, Great Usopp, have a great idea that-"

"Just spit it out" Kohza said with an annoyed sigh. Usopp's eyebrow twitched, but he decided to tell anyway.

"Fine" he said "Kaya, did you make them?"

"Yes" the blond girl said and everyone's attention was on her now. She took out a small paper bag, handing it to Usopp "Here"

"Inside of this we have tags with everyone's names on them" Usopp said "So here's what we'll do: everyone takes one tag and whoever's name is on it is the person you have to get a Christmas present for. We can give them when the school ends, on December 22nd."

"Sounds good enough" Zoro said.

"And we don't have to spend so much money either" added Nami with a satisfied smile.

"I suppose there's no right to change the tag after you've taken it?" Ace asked.

"Unless it has your own name on it, no" Usopp confirmed "That wouldn't be fun."

"Sounds interesting" Sanji said "I'm in." 

"Me too"

"Likewise"

"I suppose we all are" Zoro said "Right?"

Everyone nodded, so Luffy decided: "Alright! I'll take the first one!" taking a tag he smiled; this was just what he wanted "Yosh!"

Everyone took one tag, checking them.

"Heh" Margaret chuckled "Couldn't have hoped for anyone easier."

"Glad to see someone was lucky" Kohza said, sighing in annoyance. Lady Luck was definitely mad at him for something.

"You aren't the only one with bad luck" Zoro said, having no idea what to give to the person whose name he'd picked "Of all the people..."

"This shouldn't be too hard... probably" Nami said with a sweat drop, but reminded herself that she could've gotten someone much harder.

XXXXX

Most of them went to search for a present on the very same day, not wanting to leave it for the last minute. One of them was Kohza who felt like banging his head against the wall. Aside from Vivi he'd never bought a gift to a girl; what the hell was he supposed to give? And to that bitch of all the people?

"_Definitely something cheap, that much is obvious" _he thought. He'd hoped he'd get Luffy; a package of meat and the guy would've been satisfied but no, he had to get much harder case.

"Bad luck with the tags, huh?" Kohza turned around to see Zoro behind him.

"Yeah" the blonde admitted "You too I suppose."

"Women are so troublesome" was the swordsman's annoyed reply.

"Tell me about it" Kohza agreed "So, which one is it?"

XXXXX

"Hey Ace, who'd you get?" Luffy asked from his brother as they walked towards the shops.

"Sorry Luffy, but I'm not gonna tell you" Ace said "You'd just spill the beans."

"I would not!" Luffy protested "And if you don't tell me I won't tell you!"

"You don't need to tell me; I'm pretty sure about who it is" Ace said with a smirk, but Luffy just blurted out: "I don't believe you."

"But it's true" Ace said "You seemed pretty happy about it, so it's not me. We give presents to each other every Christmas anyway. And I suppose that rules out Zoro, too."

Ace glanced at Luffy from the corner of his eye. As he saw his little brother sweating he knew he was on the right track.

"You and Usopp seem pretty close, so it could be him" Ace said "But personally I'm pretty sure it's Nami."

Ace turned to look at Luffy, but the younger boy turned his head away. Whistling innocently, he said: "Na-nami? Of course it's not her."

"Did you already decide what you'll get for her?" Ace asked, deciding to ignore what his little brother said, knowing he was lying.

"Yeah, but I aint telling you so-"he paused suddenly before correcting himself: "I mean, it's not Nami!"

Ace just rolled his eyes; knowing that he'd manage to get Luffy to spill the beans under an hour. That's how easy it'll be.

XXXXX

"You got lucky, Kaya!" Margaret said as she walked in to a shop with her friend "I wish I could be the one giving Ace a present."

"But I don't know what to give to him" Kaya said "At least you have it easy."

"Can't deny that" Margaret admitted "But there's nothing fun in giving a present to a guy like him; he's like a little kid."

"I suppose so" Kaya said. She knew that Margaret wanted to switch and was trying to get her to do so, but she wouldn't. It was against the rules after all.

XXXXX

"Usopp?"

"Yeah?"

"You got Kaya's name, right?" the long nose looked down at his small, dark skinned friend in surprise, asking: "How did you know?"

"Why else would you have bought an expensive necklace?" Chopper asked. Usopp laughed nervously, saying: "Well it could have been for Nami... or Vivi?"

Chopper gave him a deadpan look, which was rare from the younger boy. Usopp sweat dropped, saying: "Right, stupid excuse. So, whose name did you get?"

Chopper showed Usopp the tag since he still had it and the long nose laughed, saying: "No wonder you bought a pillow!"

**A.N: The next few chapters will have a thing or two to do with Christmas and New Year... let's just hope that I manage to finish them before they actually are.**


	35. Chapter 35

**A.N: I'm so sorry it took so long! I thought I'd get this and the actual Christmas chapter done before Christmas but well, it didn't happen... which means the New Year's chapter is late too... but better late than never, no?**

**Chapter 35: Christmas Date**

It was December 22nd, school was ending for the year and it was time for Luffy and his friends to give the presents.

"The hell?" Kohza asked from Sanji, holding a book titled "The Key to Good Manners."

"Though you might need it" Sanji said with a chuckle and the others laughed.

"Okay, who's next?"

"We'll see" Nami said "Out of the ring, Sanji-kun. Spin the bottle, Kohza."

Kohza did as told, and the bottle pointed at Kaya, so now it was her turn to give a present.

"Here" Kaya said, handing her present to Ace.

"Thanks" he said, opening it.

"Chocolate?" Kohza asked as he saw what she gave to the older guy "So ordinary."

"Shut it, Sand Head, bet you're just jealous" Sanji said. Glaring at him, Kohza shot back: "Well it would've been better than your gift!"

"Both of you shut up!" Nami hissed "Spin the bottle, Ace."

"Right" the freckles faced man said, doing as told. The bottle ended up pointing at Nami, who slid her present across the floor to Usopp.

"Let's see..." Usopp muttered as he unwrapped the present "A new water gun? Cool! Luffy broke my another one last month and-"

Usopp paused suddenly as he noticed everyone laughing "What?"

"Told you he's like a kid" Zoro said to Ace who laughed so hard he might fall over soon.

"I can't believe that guy!" Margaret said as she leaned on Kaya's, who was also giggling, shoulder for support.

"You know Usopp, that thing's loaded" Nami said suddenly. It took a moment for the long nose to register her words but when he did, he grinned.

"Oh shit..." Zoro muttered, everyone's laughter dying down.

"Run!" Luffy called out. They ran around in the otherwise empty classroom where they shouldn't be anymore but which Shanks had "forgotten" to lock for a while before sitting down again.

"Prepare to eat snow when we get out, Usopp" Zoro told the long nose with a glare, making the younger boy gulp. Wanting to change the subject, he spun the bottle.

"Your turn, Vivi" Kohza said and Vivi handed her present to Luffy, who ripped the paper off faster than Zoro gets lost. Taking out a book he blinked, reading the title out loud: "Cooking for Morons?"

"What?" the others, including Vivi, asked.

"Why'd you buy him a book?"

"Scratch that, what's up with the title?" Kohza asked "I mean I can see what, but that's not like you at all, Vivi."

"It wasn't supposed to be anything like that!" Vivi was fast to react "I mean I did want to buy him a book since he reads so little, but I didn't know what kind so I asked Nami for help and... well..."

"And I just thought that'd fit him well" Nami said with a shrug "And it does, doesn't it?"

"Can't disagree with that" Ace said with a chuckle "Maybe he could try to learn to cook on his own now."

"Not in my kitchen" Sanji said "I don't want it to be ruined."

"Aren't you guys a bit too mean?" Vivi asked, but the others just shook their heads "Nah, just realistic."

Luffy spun the bottle, making it point at Zoro who gave his present to Vivi.

"Box of chocolates?" Margaret asked after Vivi had opened her present "That's lame."

"Shut up" Zoro said simply, momentarily wishing he'd gotten Margaret or Nami. To them he could have bought something not so nice, but since he had gotten Vivi he had to get something normal. Now it was Vivi's turn to spin the bottle, and it ended up pointing at Luffy.

"I don't have it with me" the teen said.

"Idiot" Kohza summed up with a sigh "Somehow I kind of saw this coming."

"I didn't forget it; it's just something I couldn't bring" Luffy defended himself "I'll show it after school."

"Sure, we believe you" Margaret said with a roll of her eyes "It better not have been my gift."

"No, it was Nami's" Luffy replied. The orange haired woman sighed, muttering: "Just my luck."

"It's the law of karma" Kohza said "Blame yourself for buying that book."

"But my present is good" Luffy defended himself, realizing he was being insulted again.

"Sure" Kohza said "Spin the bottle Nami; this is getting boring."

"Shut up" Nami said, spinning the bottle anyway. It pointed at Chopper.

"Zoro!" Chopper called, tossing the present to the older guy who caught it easily. Opening the present he pulled out a big and fluffy dark green pillow.

"Exactly what you needed aint it?" Usopp asked "Not that you'd need a pillow to fall asleep but you get the point."

"Shut up" Zoro said "Thanks, Chopper."

Zoro spun the bottle, making it Usopp's turn to give his gift.

"Yosh, it's time for the great Usopp-sama to give his present!" the long nose said, giving the small package to Kaya "Here"

Kaya took out the necklace, leaning away from Margaret who came over to check it.

"Wow" Margaret said "Looks like Usopp does have some good sides after all."

"Is that how you define a person's worth?" Zoro asked "Bitch."

"You know that's not what I meant" Margaret said with a glare.

"Is there any other way to understand that?" Zoro asked, getting an answer from Kohza: "As far as I know, no."

"Stop it guys; let's not fight before Christmas" Kaya said "Thank you Usopp, it's lovely."

To avoid more fighting Kaya spun the bottle, making it point at Margaret.

"Still not my turn to get a present, huh?" she muttered as she handed her present to Chopper.

"Thanks!" the boy said happily, tearing the paper off "Yay, its cotton candy!"

"Cotton candy?" Kohza asked from Margaret with a raised eyebrow "Seriously?"

"He likes it, which means I made the right choice" Margaret said, sticking her tongue out "Deal with it."

"You just had it easy" Usopp put in "It's not that hard to please Chopper."

Margaret was about to say something, but Nami did so before her: "Both of you cut it out."

"I'll spin the bottle!" Chopper cheered and the bottle was next pointed at Kohza.

"Looks like I'll get rid of this after all" he said, sending his present to Margaret by sliding it across the floor. Margaret took it, but had a bad feeling. She had caught the smirk on Kohza's face as the bottle had pointed at him.

"It better not be anything disgusting" Margaret mumbled as she started to open the present.

"So did you put in the worms?" Zoro asked, making Margaret freeze. Catching on immediately, Kohza replied: "You'll see..."

"They're pulling your leg" Usopp told Margaret "If it had worms they would have made air holes on it."

"Why'd you have to spoil the fun?" Zoro asked as Margaret glared at him and Kohza.

"You guys are jerks" she said as she continued to open the present. Kohza and Zoro started laughing the second Margaret saw what was inside; they knew when she'd seen it from the look on her face.

"Manners for Morons?" Kaya read the title "I wonder if its same series with Luffy's Cooking for Morons?"

"Very funny guys" Margaret said with a roll of her eyes "I'm just dying of laughter here."

"We know it's not something you wanted, but you definitely need it" Kohza said, ignoring the glare he got "Admit it."

"I do have manners, I just see no need in using them around an idiot like you" she defended.

"Your harsh words are making my soul bleed" Kohza said with a chuckle "There's only one present left, right? Let's get this over with."

"Agreed" Ace said "Catch, Sanji!"

Sanji caught the present easily, taking a note of its lightness. It wasn't a book that much he was sure of. Opening it, he took out a pair of yellow rubber gloves.

"Pink just isn't your color" Ace explained simply "So I thought you could use those."

The others laughed at that while Sanji just stared at the pair of gloves before shrugging.

"Whatever" he said "Thanks."

"Okay, that was all" Nami said "We should probably get going before the teacher catches us; we aren't supposed to be here."

Some of the others could catch irritation in her voice, and it was not hard to guess why. She was mad ´cause she hadn't gotten her present.

"Yeah, let's go so that I can show you your present!" Luffy cheered, but his smile fell as Nami told him: "Nojiko and I decided to leave right after school; it'll have to wait a few days, sorry."

"Actually, it doesn't" Ace said "I had a feeling Luffy might screw up by not taking a note of your schedule, so I talked to Nojiko beforehand. She said you two can leave tomorrow morning."

"See?" Luffy asked "You can see your present today!"

"Looks like it" Nami said "But you really need to learn to consider other peoples' plans too."

"Why? Things worked out fine"

Nami let out an annoyed sigh, saying: "Yeah, thanks to your brother."

Luffy shrugged, saying: "Doesn't matter, let's go."

Nami sighed. Despite having a feeling she was going to regret it later she followed the boy out of the class and the whole school.

XXXXX

"Luffy, where exactly are we going?" Nami asked as they walked through the heavy snow in the woods. If it was someone else she would've started doubting something already, but this was Luffy. He was way too stupid to try something.

"We´re almost there"

"Almost where?" Nami asked as she struggled to keep up with Luffy.

"You'll see" was Luffy's answer. Nami cursed in her mind; who was it again that said Luffy couldn't keep a secret? "We're here."

They stopped and Nami looked around, but saw nothing special. Only trees and snow. Crossing her arms, she asked: "Where exactly is here?"

"Look up" Nami did so, a bit annoyed already. Her eyes widened as she saw a lot of colorful lights lit up in a huge tree, lined up in a way that made it look like a heart.

"Wow" she breathed out.

"The best is still coming" Luffy said as he sneaked his arm around her waist. All Nami could do was say "What?" before she saw Luffy's arm stretch out, taking a hold of a big branch high up in the tree.

"Here we go" Luffy said before jumping, causing both of them to fly upwards fast. Nami let out a scream, tightly holding on to Luffy. After they had landed and Nami had caught her breath she hit Luffy on the head, yelling: "Don't _ever _do that again!"

"But wasn't it fun?" Luffy asked. Nami's punch hadn't hurt; after all he was rubber at the moment.

"No, it was dangerous and scary, so _never do it again!_" Nami told, her voice getting louder with every word.

"But nothing bad happened" Luffy insisted, causing him to get hit again.

"It was _still _dangerous and something _could _have happened so don't do it again; especially without a warning and in a place like this!" Nami yelled again. Luffy pouted, but decided to stop arguing. They shouldn't ruin the night "Okay."

They were both quiet for a while until Nami asked: "What exactly are we doing here?"

"Eating" Luffy answered and only then Nami noticed all the food in there, set like for a picnic. She didn't think it'd get too cold either; there were blankets and candles everywhere. Besides, it luckily wasn't that cold today. Only -4 Celsius. They sat down on the pillows, talking about everyone and everything as they ate.

XXXXX

"Ace, take your foot off of my head will you?" Sabo asked as he lay down in a tree not too far away from the one Luffy and Nami were in.

"The hell you talking about? I'm on a branch _below _you, it can't be _my _foot" his brother told back, rolling his eyes.

"Huh? Then who's sitting above me?" the blond asked, looking up before groaning. Of course.

"Something wrong, Sabo-kun?" Robin asked with a sly smirk.

"Do you mind taking your leg off of my head?" the blond asked "It's not a platform!"

Robin seemed to think for a moment before answering: "No, I like it where it is."

Sabo glared at her, but she just smiled back as innocently as she could.

"I suppose it's obvious who's on the top in that relationship" Nojiko commented from the branch next to Robin's. Sabo's face went red but before he was able to say that they weren't in a relationship Ace beat him to it: "They're not in a relationship" he said "Sabo's way too slow."

"Wha-!?"

"I see" Nojiko said, adjusting her binoculars as she kept an eye on Luffy and Nami "Is that a family fault by chance?"

"The heck are you trying to say?" Ace asked, looking up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing" Nojiko said, whistling innocently. Ace narrowed his eyes, but focused his attention on Zoro as he said from the highest branch: "Will you guys shut up for a moment and try to concentrate? Wasn't it you who suggested we spy them on the first place?"

"It's not like the three of you weren't enjoying this, too" Ace said "You're lucky Robin; you're even capable of listening them with your drug power."

"And yet it's probably hard since everyone keeps talking" Nojiko said "So shut it."

"You were talking too!" Ace protested, but was shut up by Robin who covered his mouth with an extra hand.

"Look!" Nojiko shouted out suddenly, turning everyone's attention to the other tree completely.

XXXXX

"Luffy? What are you doing?" Nami asked as Luffy's hand came to her face.

"You have cream on your face" the boy said simply, wiping it off with his finger. Nami sweat dropped, more to herself than to him, tough. For a moment she had thought he was going to kiss her, but that was a stupid idea; this was Luffy after all.

"Right" she said "...I could've wiped it away by myself, you know."

"But you were too slow" Luffy said and Nami had a sudden urge to test if his rubber ability would prevent him from getting hurt if she pushed him off the tree. Even if it did she couldn't come up with any other good side in the rubber drug.

"Say Luffy, is that rubber drug actually useful in some way?" she decided to ask.

"I fell from the roof once, but I didn't get injured since I had just taken the drug" Luffy told, looking like he was thinking "And it's easier to reach things with stretchable arms."

"Is that all?" Nami asked. Luffy just shrugged and then grinned, saying: "It's a fun ability."

"Right" she said, sweat dropping _"Or you're simply just an idiot."_

XXXXX

"I can't believe we sat there the whole night and those two didn't even kiss!" Ace complained as he walked home with Sabo, Zoro and Robin. Nojiko had taken off the second she got down from the tree.

"It can't be helped; he's a little slow" Sabo said "Besides he's got about as much experience with women as Zoro's got a sense of direction."

"Oi!" Zoro protested, making the others laugh "As far as I know Ace has never even kissed anyone and Sabo's _still _not making any process with asking Robin out!"

Ace and Sabo flushed red, but Robin continued laughing, only harder now.

"Who said I've been planning to ask her out in the first place?!" Sabo yelled. Zoro smirked, meeting eyes with Robin for a split second.

"Oh?" he wondered "Does this mean you have no romantic feelings towards her?"

Sabo was about to respond, but got no word out of his mouth. What was he supposed to say since Robin was there too?

"...I don't need to answer that" was what he settled on.

"In other words he's still too chicken to confess his love" Ace summed up, getting hit by Sabo as a result "Shut up!"

As the brothers fought the other two walked on with the older one talking: "Could it be that you and Ace went a bit far?"

"Nah" Zoro said "Besides you're already aware of his feelings, no?"

"Yes" Robin admitted "But I don't know how serious he is about me, so-"

"So you're too much of a chicken to confess first" Zoro summed up "Sabo's a great guy you know; if you don't hurry someone will snatch him from you."

"Could that someone perhaps be you?" Robin asked with a smirk, intending to make fun of Zoro, but she saw it failed as he smirked back, saying only one word: "Maybe."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: Christmas**

"It's Christmas Eve!" Luffy cheered the first thing in the morning as he woke up "Ace, Sabo, wake up its Christmas!"

"Shut it Luffy we're trying to sleep here!" Ace yelled, punching him on the head. He and his two little brothers were at his house, sleeping side by side with Luffy in the middle like in the good old times.

"Every year" Sabo says as he watches Luffy run out of the room "Can't he let us sleep at least once?"

"Looks like he can't" Ace said "And as much as I'd like to stay in bed we need to get up if we don't want him to eat the whole breakfast." 

"Yep" Sabo said "Should we wake up Dadan?"

The brothers look at each other before both of them got up, saying: "Nah."

XXXXX

"You brats; you didn't leave me anything to eat!"

"Stop complaining, you old bat" Ace said "It's not like the three of us were the only ones eating."

"Don't put the blame on us!" protested a bunch of men, Dadan's underlings.

"This couldn't get any worse" Dadan said just before a loud "Hoh hoh ho" was heard from the front door, followed by loud laughter "If there's someone up there he definitely hates me!"

"Hey, that voice..." Ace started fearfully.

"It's-"

"Gramps!" Luffy realized in horror "Quick, let's hide in the attic!"

"Too obvious; we've done that too many times!" Sabo protested "Under the dining table, now!"

"But then we might not even get out of there by lunch!" Ace argued. Sighing, Sabo snapped at his brothers: "Which is worse: getting beat up by the geezer or missing lunch!?"

"Missing lunch" the brothers answered without missing a beat. Sabo's eyebrow twitched before he sighed; his brothers were hopeless.

"Well, few seconds ´till the traditional Christmas Beating. Prepare yourselves, my brothers."

XXXXX

"Isn't it time to open the presents already?" Luffy asked an hour after they'd finished their dinner.

"We're still waiting for boss" Sabo said, making Garp scowl "Do we really have to wait for that useless son of mine? I want to open the presents already!"

"He's worse than Luffy when he wants..." Sabo muttered with a sweat drop.

"The geezer has a point tough and I don't think Dragon would mind either" Ace said "So why not?"

"How about the fact that he's bringing most of the presents?" Sabo said. Luffy and Garp looked at each other, declaring at the same time: "We'll wait for him."

"_I suppose their stupidity is useful sometimes" _Sabo thought with a sweat drop _"This is gonna be a long night tough; bet they'll be complaining the whole time until Dragon comes."_

Fortunately it only took two hours for the man to arrive.

"What took you so long, you useless brat?" Garp asked as Dragon stepped in.

"Merry Christmas to you too" was the younger man's dry reply "Maybe I shouldn't have bought all these presents after all."

"Gramps doesn't need his, but I didn't do anything" Luffy told, coming out from behind Garp.

"What was that?" Garp asked, hitting his grandson on the head.

"Do you have to beat up my son all the time?" Dragon asked, not that he was angry, just a bit annoyed.

"Indeed, he should beat up his own son instead, don't you agree?" Robin asks, coming inside from behind Dragon.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered immediately.

Dragon glared at Robin, saying: "I knew taking you along would bite me in the ass sooner or later."

"Looks like it was the sooner" Garp said, cracking his knuckles with a huge smile "Prepare yourself, brat."

"Have fun" Robin said with a chuckle as Dragon ran out of the house with Garp in tow.

"Dad and gramps left" Luffy said with smile "Let's go open the presents now!"

"Won't they get mad?" Robin asked, but Luffy only answered: "That's a problem for that time!"

Robin chuckled, following the boy to the large combination of living room and dining room where his brothers and Dadan's group already waited at.

"Where are boss and the old geezer?" Sabo asked as he noticed the two.

"Having some father son time outside" Robin replied, making Sabo sweat drop "As in beating each other up and running away?"

"Pretty much" she said "Looks like Ace and Luffy are already opening their presents. Won't you join in?"

"I'd rather sit here and wait than get beat up for opening my presents before the geezer got here" he said with a chuckle "Those two just don't know how to think ahead."

"Indeed, people like them die young" Robin said with a calm smile, scaring the hell out of Sabo once again.

"Can't you stop that at least for today?" he deadpanned "It's Christmas for god's sake!"

"This is just who I am" Robin replied "It's like denying meat from Luffy."

Sabo sweat dropped, saying: "I can see your point, but wasn't that a bit too much?"

Robin didn't answer, just turned to watch the two young men. She recalled being that exited with presents at the age of six last time... or was it five? She couldn't exactly remember. She glanced at Sabo, wondering why he had turned out to be so different from his brothers. Could the main reason be something that happened even before he met them?

"What the hell!?" Garp's voice broke Robin's line of thoughts "You kids started to open the presents without me!?"

The youngest and the eldest of the brothers paled while the third one just sat on the couch, preparing to watch the other two get beaten. Being the smart one did have its benefits.

After Garp had calmed down and the presents had been opened Dragon told Luffy to get up, wishing to speak with him privately.

"What?" Luffy asked after they were out of everyone else's earshot.

"Well you see, at the start of the next year..."

**A.N: Was it mean to end it there? Sorry, but you'll just have to wait for the next chapter if you want to know what he said :p**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: Happy New Year**

"So what did Dragon say?" Zoro asked from Luffy. It was New Year's Eve and the first guests were still on their way.

"He's going on a trip" Luffy said. Zoro raised an eyebrow, asking: "And that was something worth telling you about because?"

"He wants me to go with him this time" Luffy said. Zoro said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"It's not like he's going to Roger's territory, but still pretty far" Luffy said, excitement starting to show on his face "It'd be great practice for the time I go to Roger's territory!"

"Yeah, it would" Zoro said with a small smirk, but he had a feeling there was a "but" here. But what would make Luffy hesitate going on an adventure? He was probably just imagining it.

"But..."

Oh, so he _wasn't _imagining it; Luffy really did hesitate.

"But I'm not sure if I should, not now." Luffy said "I'm finally making process with... with..."

"Nami" Zoro finished for him. Maybe the swordsman was a bit dense at times, but he wasn't blind. And he knew Luffy.

"Yeah" Luffy said "Maybe I should stay so I don't mess up."

"You might mess up even if you stay; women are troublesome like that" Zoro said "Besides, a woman who'd stop a man from following his dream isn't worth the trouble."

"I don't get what you're trying to say" Luffy told. Zoro had been expecting it; things needed to be said directly to Luffy, otherwise he wouldn't get it.

"Take the risk" Zoro said, getting up as the doorbell rang. First guests were coming "Is what I'm saying."

Luffy had no idea why it felt so hard. He had always been the action now, thinking later kind of guy, so why was he thinking so hard now?

"_I've always known thinking's not good for health" _Luffy thought with a sigh. It was definitely healthier to be carefree and not to think so much.

"Alright, you're first to arrive" Zoro said as he opened the door for Kohza, high fiving with him "Vivi's not with you?"

"Nah, she's having some girl time with the others before the party" Kohza said, shrugging "Don't know what that means and to be honest I don't wanna know either."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best."

XXXXX

"How about a game of Never Have I Ever?" Ace asked as everyone had gotten tired of singing and dancing, sitting in the living room talking about whatever came to their minds.

"Fine by me" Sabo said. He and Robin had been invited in the last minute, but had made it anyway.

"How about we make it a little more interesting?" Nojiko asked. Nami had asked Luffy if she could come too and naturally the guy didn't have anything against it. It had been harder to get Nojiko to agree, but in the end it seemed she was enjoying herself in the party.

"What do you have in mind?" Zoro asked. He doubted it was the original drinking version and the raising hands thing had been pretty lame, so he didn't mind hearing what the woman had to say. Smirking, Nojiko said: "Never Have I Ever, strip version!"

"I'm in!" Sanji shouted immediately.

"Figures" Zoro muttered with a glare "Well, why not."

"Sounds good" Nami said.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea" Vivi said, making Kaya agree instantly.

"You can give up the second you want" Kohza said, pulling out some money "How about this: everyone puts in 1000 belies as a prize. The one who's last in the game with some clothes on gets everything."

"I'm in" Franky said, causing everyone to look at him "What?"

"With that outfit it's easy for you to lose, you know" Sabo said "I'm in too by the way."

Everyone exchanged looks with each other and, one by one, put 1000 belies in the growing pile. In the end, everyone was playing.

"Mind if I start?" Robin asked. After she got everyone's approval she said: "Never have I ever walked through the city without pants or a skirt."

Everyone snickered at Franky who put away his sunglasses in annoyance.

"You did that on purpose, Nico Robin. Not super at all" he said "My turn."

"Isn't this a bit unfair?" Usopp asked "I mean some of us have way more clothes on than the others."

"You should've thought that before agreeing to play" Nami said, sticking her tongue out at him "Deal with it."

"Like I said: my turn" Franky said "Never have I ever worn a skirt."

Everyone watched as the girls took something off, blinking when Sabo and Sanji moved their ties, the later cursing like a sailor.

"What the hell guys?" Nami asked, raising eyebrow "I wouldn't be surprised if it was Kohza or Zoro-"

"Oi!"

"-but you? Especially you, Sanji-kun."

"I was drunk" he said "_Really _drunk."

"Are you sure you don't just enjoy stuff like that?" Zoro asked with a smirk. Narrowing his eyes, Sanji asked: "What was that, Marimo?"

"Cut it out" Nami hissed, turning to Sabo: "And what's your excuse?"

"Ask her!" Sabo hissed, glaring murderously at Robin. Everyone turned to look at the woman, who just giggled and said: "You're the one who suggested we'd take part in the play."

"But _you _were supposed to be the Sleeping Beauty, not _me_!" Sabo grumbled, making everyone laugh.

"You should've mentioned that earlier"

"So who played the prince?" Margaret asked. Smiling, Robin said: "That was me."

"I suppose we don't need to wonder who's the boss in the house when you two get married, then" Ace said, causing Sabo to yell with a red face: "We're not a couple!"

"Yeah, 'cause you're slow" Zoro said "At this rate Luffy and Nami are married before you even confess."

"Keep us out of this!" Nami yelled, hitting Zoro on the head. The others, including Luffy, laughed.

"Well then, shall we continue?" Ace asked "Never have I ever left something on my plate."

Everyone save for Ace and Luffy took something off.

"I thought you don't waste food, Curly Brow" Zoro said with a smirk as he tossed his bandana away.

"Last time I wasted food was almost ten years ago!" the blonde snapped "I wonder when was the last time you found your way to the place you were going to without a problem."

"Why you-"

"Cut it out already!" Nami yelled, hitting them on the heads "Who's next?"

"Me! Me!" Chopper said "I've never played poker."

Ace chuckled, taking off his first article of clothing. Luffy did the same, putting his hat on the floor next to him.

"Ah crap, there goes my last" Franky said "I lost."

Kohza took off his jacket, Margaret the shoe that she still had and so did Nami, Nojiko took off her first shoe and Robin removed one of her boots. Sabo got rid of his coat, Sanji of his shirt (for the ladies, or so he said) Usopp took off one shoe and Zoro put his jacket down. The ones who didn't take anything off along with Chopper were Kaya and Vivi.

"Do you three even know how to play?" Zoro asked them and they shook their heads.

"We'll definitely have to teach you after this" Nojiko decided "Who's next?"

"I've never taken a "Devil's Drug"" said Zoro. Only the three brothers and Robin got rid of some of their clothes after this.

"I wonder which goes off next Nico Robin; the skirt or the top?" Franky wondered with a sly grin, earning a glare from Sabo. Noticing this Franky said: "Hey don't get jealous bro, not super. Besides I was just saying; I'm not gonna steal your woman or anything."

"The hell!?" Sabo yelled, making everyone laugh.

"_That guy's crush is obvious alright" _Nojiko thought while rolling her eyes. Glancing at Luffy she couldn't help but think: _"Maybe it's a family fault?"_

By now it was obvious to her Luffy had a thing for her sister. It had become sure after their little spy tour before Christmas.

"May I say the next one?" Kaya asked "Sure, go ahead."

"Never have I ever gotten a detention" Kaya said. Ace threw his boot at Luffy, demanding him to take off his remaining sandal. Kohza took off a shoe, laughing as Margaret cursed and took off her top.

"This is why this is a good game!" Sanji yelled.

"`Cause it's the only situation you can see a shirtless woman in?" Zoro questioned, earning a glare from Sanji.

"Don't even think about it, Sanji-kun" Nami hissed, not allowing the two to start a fight. After that she took off her remaining shoe together with Nojiko. Sabo's other shoe got off as well as Sanji's and Usopp's. The last one to remove something was Zoro, also taking off a shoe.

"Never have I ever fallen down the stairs" Robin said.

"Neither would we have if Luffy didn't push us" Sabo grumbled, taking off a sock while Ace took off a shoe.

"Sorry"

"Looks like I'll be losing another shoe" Vivi said, taking off her shoe.

"Just the three of you?" Kohza asked "Well, I suppose that makes you the Clumsy Trio."

"Never have I ever slipped and hit my head while on shower" was Vivi's answer to that. Blushing, Kohza took off his another shoe, cursing as he noticed no one else did anything.

"And you call us clumsy" Sabo said.

"Whatever" the younger blond grumbled "Never have I ever broken in to someone's house."

Rolling his eyes, Sanji said: "Like any of us would have done something like tha-"

He stopped midsentence as he saw Nami take off her blouse and Nojiko removing her belt.

"The hell, you criminal sisters?" Zoro asked "Not that I'm surprised."

"We just broke in to the house of our home village's sheriff when we were kids; it's no big deal" Nojiko said "Are we really the only ones tough?"

"Does it count as a break in when we went to Makino's house that one time?" Luffy asked, making Sabo shake his head.

"No" he said "The door wasn't locked so it wasn't a break in."

"Another group of criminals" Zoro said with a sweat drop.

"Never have I ever run in to a wall" Nojiko said. Vivi took off her another sock and Luffy his shirt.

"It was a glass wall" she said as the others started snickering "Yeah!"

"But you've also run in to ordinary walls, Lu" Sabo pointed out, making everyone laugh.

"Never have I ever sprained my wrists" Nami said.

"The heck was that?" Zoro asked. Kohza ended up taking off a sock while Nojiko took off her shirt. The last one to take something off was Robin, removing her belt.

"Got a problem with it?" Nami asked.

"Come up with something more interesting" Zoro said.

"Well how about you show us some good example" Nojiko said.

"Sure" the swordsman said "Never have I ever believed one of Usopp's lies."

"Oi!" the long nose protested.

"That wasn't any better than mine" Nami muttered, taking off her top. To her defense she could mention that it was in the beginning when she didn't know Usopp or anyone too well yet.

"I hate to admit it, but..." Ace muttered, taking off his t-shirt.

"No kidding" Kohza said, taking off a sock.

"I think I'm out" Margaret said, not willing to strip just to her undergarments.

"What, you're backing out?" Nami asked, taking off her skirt. There was money on the line, although she wouldn't be willing to take off her undergarments. Sanji took off a shoe, all the while not taking his eyes off of Nami. As Vivi took off a sock Kaya voiced her thoughts: "Um, I'm not exactly sure if I've ever believed any of his lies or not."

"Yeah" Chopper and Luffy said.

"You two definitely have" Sanji told them "But we can't be sure about Kaya-chan."

"We have?" the boys asked, making the others groan.

"Yes you have" Zoro confirmed "Many times."

Luffy shrugged, taking off his shorts.

"Well somebody knows no shame..." Nami mumbled, turning her head away.

"Bet you enjoy that" Nojiko whispered to her, making Nami elbow her sister on the side.

"Never have I ever gotten caught sleeping in class" Sanji said. Zoro rolled his eyes, taking off a shoe. Ace took off his first sock, asking from Zoro: "Which of us do you think has done it more?"

"You were homeschooled, so probably Zoro" Sabo reasoned "But at least he never falls asleep in the middle of the street."

"Shut up" Ace said, rolling his eyes. Luffy frowned as he suddenly realized something: he was out of the game now as he had been caught sleeping in class way more than once.

"No fair" he complained "Stupid game."

"Shut up and take your loss like a man" Kohza said as he stripped himself off his shirt. Chopper took off his remaining shoe, having taken the first one off when asked about Usopp's lying.

"Quilty" Sabo confessed, taking off a sock.

"Yup" Usopp said and a sock went flying. However, everyone was shocked as Kaya took off her shoe.

"The hell?"

"You're kidding right?" Kohza asked "Kaya the Goody Two Shoes slept in class!?"

Kaya blushed, looking away as she mumbled: "I had a fever back then..."

"Asshole" Sanji hissed at Kohza, glaring at the younger man.

"Oops" he said; sweat dropping "Sorry about that."

"Never have I ever turned down a free meal" Ace said. Kaya took off a shoe, Kohza his belt, Nami and Nojiko dropped out while muttering curses, Robin pulled off her skirt, Sabo his shirt and Vivi her jacket.

"You really don't seem to have a problem showing yourself" Sabo muttered, turning his face away from Robin.

"Quit complaining; we all can see you love the sight!" Ace teased his brother, winking at Robin "And I admit you're not the only one, right guys?"

"Definitely not!" Sanji agreed.

"It's a suuper sight!" Franky added.

"Perverts" Nami mumbled. Scratching his head, Franky said: "You're too kind..."

"It wasn't a compliment!" Nami hissed.

"Never have I ever fallen in to a river" Robin said, having witnessed many of the guys still in the game doing so.

"Damn" Ace said, taking off a sock "You're doing this on purpose."

"Definitely" Sabo agreed, taking off his belt.

"You're a real bitch" Kohza said with a sigh "I'm out."

"Don't insult Robin-chan!" Sanji yelled, throwing the sock he just took off at Kohza.

"I feel like I was in kindergarten again" Zoro said, also taking off a sock.

"Close enough" Sabo said "Who next?"

"May I?" Kaya asked. After receiving nods she said: "Never have I ever fallen off from a tree."

Without a word Ace took off his belt, Usopp his other sock, Vivi her belt and Zoro a sock. Sabo seemed to think for a while before saying: "I'm out."

"How disappointing" Robin said. Sabo, not wanting Robin to be able to humiliate him again, replied: "I can give you a private show later if you want."

Sabo, who thought he had finally gotten the better of her, went bright red as Robin answered: "I'd love that."

The others laughed at Sabo's red face and the blond glared at them, knowing that Ace and Zoro would be reminding him about this for a _long _time. It would probably be for the best if he'd stop trying to outsmart Robin entirely.

...like he'd do that. He'll make her embarrassed one day for sure.

"Okay guys, moving on" he said with a sigh, hoping they could continue the game.

"Yeah, for now" Zoro said with a snort "Never have I ever been on a date with a woman."

"I knew you'd say that sooner or later" Ace said, taking off his shorts. He only had his underwear left, so the next one would probably be his last. Sanji took off a sock and Usopp opened the straps of his overalls to get his shirt off.

"I think I'll quit here" Vivi said, making everyone stare at her.

"...I've always thought that you're straight." Usopp commented.

"I am" Vivi said, blushing "It was just the Date Game Nojiko came up with. You know, that time with Margaret and Ace."

"Oh, right" Nami said, sweat dropping "I suppose that counts."

"Never have I ever broken a window" Vivi said. Chopper took off a sock, Ace dropped out along with Usopp, Sanji took off his belt and Zoro took off his shirt.

"Never have I ever danced in moonlight" Zoro said, making Ace glare at him: "Asshole."

The others laughed as Ace dropped out, but the narcoleptic wanted to make one thing clear: "I was drunk."

"Yet I recall it happening more than once..." Sabo muttered with a chuckle.

"You were both dancing" Luffy stated, making Sabo hiss at him as the others laughed: "Shut up!"

"Never have I ever burned my food while cooking" Sanji said.

"Nice try Curly Brow, but I've rarely ever cooked anything" Zoro said "And I haven't burned anything either."

"I have" Chopper confessed, taking off his remaining sock "Few times."

"Me too" Kaya admitted, taking off a sock.

"And so have I" Robin admitted, taking off her corset top, getting cheers from the guys. She wasn't wearing a bra.

"Are you crazy!?" Sabo yelled at her, quickly taking off his coat he had just gotten back on and putting it on Robin's shoulders "Just give up at that point!"

"Not used to sharing, eh?" Franky asked from Sabo, but only got a glare as a response.

"Hey Robin, that's cheating!" Luffy was the first to say "Right Zoro? Ace?"

"Definitely" the other two agreed, but Nojiko disagreed: "You guys are just perverts. As long as we don't count the coat as a part of the game it'll be fine."

"Exactly" Robin said "And I can take the coat off right now if it bothers y-"

"You're keeping it on!" Sabo interrupted her, making the others laugh.

"I suppose seeing Robin shirtless is just too much for you" Ace mocked his brother "Not that I blame you; it's an impressive sight."

"I swear I'll kill you one day, Ace" Sabo mumbled "Can you guys just continue the game?"

"I'm sure they'd like to, but Sanji passed out" Nojiko said with a snort "His nose is bleeding. Think the cause was blood loss?"

"Eh!?" Chopper yelled, running over to Sanji. After making a quick check on him he stated: "No, he hasn't lost even nearly that much blood. He's fine."

"In other words he's just a pervert" Kohza said "Not that I didn't know it before."

"We can't really continue if one of us is unconscious, can we?" Kaya asked.

"Nope" Ace said "I suggest we just divide the money between the ones still in the game."

"That's a great idea" Zoro agreed with a smirk. Easy money was always a good thing in his opinion.

"Since its Sanji's fault we didn't get to finish the game, how about not giving him anything?" Nami suggested.

"Agreed" Zoro said "So it's 3700 belies each since there are four of us."

"3750" Sabo corrected "Do you always sleep through math classes?"

"He sure does" Ace commented.

"How come you know about that since you always do the same?" Nojiko asked, making everyone laugh.

"This sure went well" Robin commented as she counted the money handed to her. The others looked at her, most of them realizing something.

"...could it be you planned this when you took your top off?" Franky asked.

"Who knows" Robin said with a small shrug, but the slight smile on her lips gave her away.

"_She definitely planned this"_

XXXXX

"What is it?" Nami asked. Shortly after the game Luffy had pushed her to the side, away from everyone else's earshot. Ace, Sabo and Robin knew and he had already told Zoro, so now he wanted to tell Nami. In private.

"I have to tell you something" Luffy says, and he recognizes that he's nervous, which he knows is rare. Well, it hasn't been so rare lately, ever since Nami came around to be exact.

"Sure, what is it?" Nami asked, being able to see his nervousness _"If he's going to ask me to distract Sanji while he robs the contents of the fridge like he did at the Halloween party I'm gonna punch him."_

"My dad's going on a business trip and I'm going with him." Luffy told. Nami blinked, not sure what he was trying to say, so she voiced her thoughts: "And you're telling this to me because...?"

"Because it's not gonna last just few weeks" Luffy said "It'll be months; dad said it wouldn't be surprising if it took a year or two."

"Oh..." Nami says as realization starts to draw on her "I didn't know you were interested in business, tough."

"I don't" Luffy denied immediately "It's just that I can see the world that way; it's not like I'm gonna take part in dad's business meetings, even if that's what he's actually wishing for."

"Are you going in to Roger's territory?" Nami asked, but Luffy shook his head.

"Nope; dad has no business there... I think" he said "Besides, I want to go there together with my friends, you included."

Nami blushed despite knowing she had no reason to do so. It's not like Luffy meant anything by that... right?

"Anyway, we're leaving in few days and I just wanted to tell you first" Luffy said "Wait no, second. I already told Zoro."

A vein popped on Nami's head; so much for her hopes of being special to him. But then again Zoro was Luffy's best friend; she supposed it wouldn't be weird if he put the swordsman before her.

"_Besides, it's not like we're even dating" _she reminded herself.

"Well now that I know you can tell the others" she said.

"Yup" Luffy said "Let's go."

After Luffy had told everyone they had the same comment as Nami did: "We didn't know you were interested in business."

"I'm not"

"Then why do you want to go?" Kohza asked, sweat dropping as Luffy said: "It's going to be an adventure!"

"Should've known" Usopp said "By the way, what exactly does your dad do?"

Before Luffy was able to tell an obvious lie Nami put in: "Do you honestly think this idiot knows what his father does for living?"

"Good point" Margaret said, turning to Sabo and Robin: "You guys work for him right? What does he do?"

The two exchanged quick looks with each other before saying as one: "It's classified."

"So either it's something shady or embarrassing" Kohza summed up "A strip club?"

"If it was I would have run in to it by now" Franky said "So it's probably something shady. Not super guys."

"Well maybe a little shady, but it's legal" Sabo said "I would never break the law."

As Ace and Zoro snorted, Sabo added: "Anymore."

"I don't even want to know" Nami muttered, eyeing the blond.

"Well in any case" Sabo said, changing the subject "Weren't we supposed to play poker?"

"Sounds good" Zoro said and everyone split in small groups since poker would have been quite hard with 15 people.

XXXXX

It was few minutes 'till midnight as Nami sat down next to Luffy who was eating pizza while leaning on the wall. They sat in silence for a while before Nami said: "Hey, Luffy..."

"Yeah?"

"How long do you think it'll take from you to come back?"

"Dunno" he said "But that reminds me of something... what was it again?"

Nami could almost see the gears turning in Luffy's head as he thought hard.

"_Looks like he remembered it" _she thought as Luffy's face lit up like a light bulb. He had clearly remembered what he wanted to say.

"Oh yeah" he said "I remember now!"

"10"

"Well, spit it out" Nami said, not joining to the countdown to midnight the others started.

"9"

"Well I just wanted to ask"

"8"

"For you to wait for me"

"7"

"Huh?" Nami questioned, blinking.

"6"

"When I come back..."

"5"

"...I want to go out with you."

"4"

"..." Nami was speechless, not having predicted this. She thought that she'd be able to tell right away if Luffy'd try to ask her out but no, it came as a real surprise.

"3"

"Can we?" Luffy asked when Nami didn't answer.

"2"

Nami smiled, and for once the dumb young man didn't need a verbal answer; that smile was all he needed. Slowly they both leaned forward...

"1"

...until their lips touched

"Happy New Year!"

**A.N: This was originally supposed to be up for New Year but... uh, that didn't really happen. I considered making this the last chapter, but decided against it, so the next one will be the last... probably. I know some questions, quite many of them actually, will be left unanswered but that's because I'm almost 100 % sure I'll write a sequel, one that focuses on their adventure behind the Red Line. I just felt like those things didn't fit in to this story (plus I want a break from it and I'm not completely sure if there'll be a sequel or not) so I decided to put them in another one. I will tell more about the (hopefully upcoming) sequel in the last chapter's an, so wait for it!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Looking Forward to the Future**

"What's up, zombie duo?" Nojiko asked as she lazily sat down at the desk in front of Zoro and Ace's, who both seemed to be asleep.

"Shut it, bitch" the key word was seemed. Ace was actually asleep, but Zoro simply had his eyes closed. Nojiko frowned as neither of the men paid her more attention than Zoro's rude comment.

"Tsk, you guys are no fun" she said "Where's Sanji?"

"Don't know, don't care" Zoro simply said, yawning.

"This sure is interesting" Tashigi said from behind Nojiko. The tattooed woman hadn't noticed her coming "Since Straw Hat left his band of friends started to behave themselves more and became much calmer... looks like he was really bad influence for them."

"It's nothing like that" Shanks disagreed, scaring the hell out of the two young women who hadn't heard him coming "They might seem calmer, but they're not who they are."

"Meaning?" Nojiko asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"They are too used to Luffy being around" Sanji explained, sitting at the desk on Ace's right side "Simply put: they're confused and don't know what to do when that idiot isn't around to mess things up."

"Exactly what I was trying to say" Shanks nodded, satisfied.

"But aren't you the same?" Nojiko asked from Sanji, lifting an eyebrow "Doesn't it feel weir not to have him around yelling for food every other second?"

"A little, yes" Sanji said "But unlike those two, I'm not an idiot. I know what's bothering me which is why I know how to deal with it."

"You do realize we're not deaf, don't you Curly Brow?" Zoro asked, cracking an eye open "Or are you too stupid to realize that?"

"I know you're not deaf, Marimo" Sanji said "And I also know you're too stupid to fully understand what I'm saying."

"What was that?" Zoro asked, glaring at the blonde.

"You didn't hear?" Sanji asked, shrugging "Looks like you're deaf after all."

"Why you-"Zoro started, vein popping, but was interrupted with a fist to his and Sanji's heads "Knock it off!"

"Isn't that Nami's job?" Shanks asked with an amused smile as the two guys sat unconscious at their desks thanks to Nojiko's fists.

"She ain't here" Nojiko pointed out "And shouldn't you start the lesson, teacher?"

As Shanks was about to answer he heard a loud yawn, seeing Ace's head raise from his desk.

"Morning already?"

"No, the geography class" Nojiko corrected, making Ace bang his head on his desk.

"Damn..." he muttered "I should have just stayed asleep."

"But you didn't" Shanks said "So take your book and pay attention."

Ace sighed, knowing that this would be a long day...

XXXXX

"It sure feels weird to not to have to protect my lunch every second as I eat" Usopp mumbled as their usual group sat in one of the classes, eating their lunches.

"It's been three months; get used to it" Zoro simply said. Everyone knew that the swordsman wasn't used to it either, but no one dared to say it out loud.

"When do you think Luffy-san will come back?" Kaya asked. She and Luffy had never been close, but she'd have to be blind to not notice how his absence affected the others.

"When he feels like it" Zoro said "...or when his dad gets tired of him and sends him back."

"I'm surprised he hasn't done it already" Ace said, getting curious looks "Don't get me wrong; he's okay and a very patient man, but well... even he has his limits."

"Obviously" Sanji said "Luffy's a pain in the ass to anyone; even to the most patient people."

"No kidding" Kohza agreed. Vivi shot him a look, asking: "Aren't you guys going a bit too far?"

"Just being honest" Ace said "And it's not like its entirely bad thing; I'm sure Luffy's stubbornness has given us all something, no?"

"Yeah" Kohza agreed "A headache."

Everyone, including Ace, laughed.

"That too" he agreed "But that's not quite what I meant."

"I think we can all more or less catch on to what you mean" Nami said.

"Especially you" Kohza said with a light laugh, causing himself to get hit "What!?"

"Exactly what do you mean by that!?" the young woman hissed. The others rolled their eyes at the two as they argued, knowing that out of all of them, Nami seemed to be most bothered by Luffy's absence.

XXXXX

Nami walked home alone, for Nojiko had gotten out of school an hour ago. Before Christmas she had enjoyed the walks home alone, mainly enjoying the silence, but now they just made the empty days longer. It's not like she was bored or sad all day; it was just quiet, lonely times like these that made her realize how much she missed Luffy.

"_Maybe I should have asked him not to go... but then again, if he had listened then he'd probably be regretting not going on, as he'd say it, on an adventure." _Nami reasoned with herself. On one hand she would've wanted Luffy stay, but on the other she didn't want to hold him back from his dreams _"Since I know how _that _feels like."_

It was not a nice feeling; more like a suffocating and trapping one. She didn't want to end up causing that to Luffy.

"_Love sucks" _Nami decided as she opened the door to her and Nojiko's apartment "I'm home."

"Welcome back" Nojiko called from the kitchen "You got a big package from the mail today; I took it to your room."

"Thanks" Nami called, a bit surprised. She hadn't ordered anything so someone was sending her a gift. Genzo maybe?

"_Well big sure is a right word..." _she thought as she got to her room, sweat dropping. The package was even bigger than her; there was _no way _Nojiko had gotten it inside on her own _"Must have asked few of the neighbors to help out."_

With few cautious steps Nami got closer to the package, observing it. It was square and neatly wrapped in orange paper with a green ribbon on the top.

"Let's see..." she muttered, taking the ribbon off before peeling the paper away, revealing a huge cardboard box _"Obviously... well, here goes."_

Nami thought, opening the box before letting out a scream and falling on the floor as a person jumped out, yelling: "Surprise!"

Nami, still on the floor, asked in shock: "Luffy? Is that you?"

"Yup!" the boy said with a grin. They stared at each other for a long while before Nami finally decided to get up, moving closer to Luffy...

...and hitting him on the head. _Hard._

"Ow!" the young man shouted "What was that for!?"

"Don't do that!" Nami yelled back "How did you even get in here!?"

"Your sister opened the door" Luffy said, getting hit again "That's not what I meant!"

Rubbing his head, Luffy asked: "Then what did you mean?"

Nami, about to yell again, paused. What _did _she mean?

"Uh..." she muttered "I mean, why you came back so fast, why are you here and why were you in a cardboard box? Couldn't you just have jumped out from my closet or something?"

"Nope; Robin's already in there" Luffy simply replied.

"What!?" Nami yelled in shock, pulling the closet doors open and revealing the raven haired woman, who giggled, saying: "Pardon my intrusion, but I had to see this myself."

Nami sighed in defeat, for one reason or other not wanting to argue with the older woman.

"Okay..." she said, turning to Luffy "Then why didn't you hide under my bed?"

"Only room for one" a voice responded from under the bed and second later Sabo's blond head slid in to sight "I was expecting a more romantic reunion, you guys."

Unlike Robin, he actually got hit. Letting out an irritated sigh, Nami asked: "Okay, what's next? Ace listening in on us behind the door?"

"Actually, it's just me" Nojiko said and opened the door, sticking her tongue out at her sister "Deal with it."

"I suppose it's time for us to leave the kids alone for a while" Robin said, giving Nami a small smirk. The younger woman smirked back, saying: "You know even if you're old my sister and that lover of yours who's under my bed aren't much older than us."

Nojiko and Luffy burst out laughing and Sabo went red, muttering something no one could understand. Robin's cheeks got some color, but other than that she maintained her poker face.

"Well like you said we should leave them alone" Sabo said with a cough, crawling out from his hiding spot and standing up, helping Robin to push the still laughing Nojiko out "Have fun!"

"Assholes" Nami muttered after them, turning to Luffy, a bit awkward "So... why'd you come back already?"

Luffy shrugged, saying: "It was kind of boring to explore all those places alone, so I came back."

"Boring eh?" Nami asked, crossing her arms with a small smirk, deciding to mess with him a bit "Or maybe someone's just a bit scared of going to explore on his own?"

"Am not!" Luffy said, way too hastily. To her surprise Nami found out that her attempt of a joke was actually the truth "I just don't like to be alone; I'm not scared." he smiled, adding: "And it's nicer to go on an adventure in a group."

"Right..." Nami said, suddenly remembering something "Um, about what you said at the New Year's party..."

"Oh yeah" Luffy said with a grin "Wanna go right now?"

"Sure, why not" she said, not really surprised to see Sabo and Nojiko backing away as she opened the door. Eavesdroppers.

"What?" Nami snapped at them.

"Nothing" Sabo said innocently.

"You two have fun" Nojiko said.

"And if the need comes, don't hesitate to use protection" Robin called from the couch. Nami's face went deep red and a quick look to Luffy told her that he didn't get what the raven haired woman was saying. Well, it was less awkward that way.

"_I swear I'll get back at her one day" _Nami thought as she and Luffy walked out of the door. Looking at the boy walking by her side she knew they'd be spending a lot more than just the rest of their time in high school together and that was a future she was looking forward to.

The future where they'd go to the Red Line and beyond it.

**A.N: And done! To be honest I liked the ending of chapter 37 a lot better, but since I promised one more chapter... yeah. I don't know yet what the sequel will be called, but that one won't be LuNa centered (not like this one really was either, even though this was supposed to be.) so we'll see other pairings, mysteries, enemies, ex boyfriends... you name it, it´ll have it. (Except good battle scenes... I'm bad at writing those.) Until then, bye!**


End file.
